Lady Hawks volleyball back on track with wins over St. Ignatius, Superior

Nothing like a pair of sweeps to lift the spirits of a team that struggled a bit out of the gate.

Such was the case with the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks volleyball team this past week as they erased an 0-2 start with 3-0 match sweeps over St. Ignatius and Superior. 

The Hawks opened their week last Tuesday with a home game against Mission High (St. Ignatius).  In the first set T Falls jumped out to an 8-2 lead, which they then grew to 14-3 before the Lady Bulldogs got on track with six straight points to pull within 17-10.  But the Hawks regrouped on their way to a 25-18 set one win and a 1-0 match lead. 

T Falls then started out set number two with a 13-1 lead as they dominated St. Ignatius en route to a 25-8 win and a 2-0 match advantage. 

Mission showed it was not done with a spirited battle in the third set, which was tied multiple times, including 21-apiece thanks to a 10-2 run.  However, T Falls found its rhythm and scored the next three points to take a 24-21 lead.  The Lady Hawks clinched the third and deciding set with a blocked shot that Mission could not return. 

The set ended with T Falls taking a hard-fought 25-22 victory to complete the sweep for their first win of the season. 

Several players had solid stats for the Lady Hawks, including Gabi Hannum who led the team with three blocked shots and nine kill shots.  Teammate Annalise Fairbank had a team-high 16 assists, while Addy Pardee led the Hawks with six digs.  Addy Deal chipped in six service aces to the winners. 

Thursday night the momentum continued as Thompson Falls traveled to Superior to take on the struggling Lady Bobcats who were looking for their first victory of the year. 

As was the case against Mission, the Hawks built a big, early lead against the Cats in the first set on their way to a 25-10 win and a 1-0 match edge. 

They repeated that process in the second set, boosting their match lead to 2-0 with a 25-13 win. Superior fought back in the third set, but T Falls had enough in the tank to pull out a 25-18, match-clinching win. 

The win lifted the Lady Hawks to 2-2 on the young season, while Superior fell to 0-4. 

Hannum had another fine match against Superior, leading the Lady Hawks in kills (12), blocks and service aces (3). Sarah Koskela pitched in with seven kills, while Olivia Fitchett had a team-best four digs. 

Next on the schedule for Thompson Falls is a home match this Thursday (Sept 19) against Sanders County rival Plains at 7 p.m.  Superior has a match today (Sept 17) at St. Regis, then hosts Seeley-Swan Thursday evening.