Warriors earn key N10 win at Carey

CAREY - Mohawk easily could have let things slip. The Warriors won the first two sets in solid fashion, but Carey responded in Set 3. Mohawk put a stop to things getting out of control then. In an early - yet monumental - meeting between two of the top teams in the league, the Warriors picked up a key 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 25-14 win over Carey in Northern 10 Athletic Conference league play Thursday. "I think we're going to be two of the top teams battling for this league," Mohawk coach Eric Hoover said. "This is a matchup certainly everybody in the league was watching to see who would win. It was really big even though it was early. Anytime you're playing one of those top teams you have to get it done." The Warriors (4-0 overall, 2-0 N10) took advantage of Carey service woes early in the fourth set. After three total service errors the first three sets combined, the Blue Devils (3-2, 1-1) had three in the first four Mohawk points of the set. Carey added a fourth later, much to the disliking of coach Stacy Bell. "We gave away four missed serves," she said. "When they're winning points off of our mistakes, you're not making them earn it. Then, they're gaining momentum, energy, and confidence. It slips from our grasps." Mohawk was able to take those miscues and really get rolling in the fourth set. The Warriors slugged their way to a 12-8 lead when 6-foot-1 Biz Klopp took over. She smacked a pair of kills and a block to make it 15-8. After a serving error by Mohawk, another kill by Klopp pushed the lead to 16-9. It was a part of her match-high 18 kills and four blocks for the Warriors. "That's great to have," Hoover said. "You can't replace that. You always have a go-to you're able to count on or at least more than most people are going to be able to count on. That really helped us push the lead." Carey was never able to make a run at it as Mohawk played nearly flawless ball the rest of the way. Two errors by the Blue Devils and a kill by Trenna Johnson made it 19-9. Allison Russell then served up an ace and Klopp stuffed a block. Klopp added the last of her kills, Jayla Huffman lined a kill, and a hitting error on Carey brought up a slew of match points. The Blue Devils fended off three of them, but Huffman put down a kill into the open court to finish off the convincing win for Mohawk. "I honestly think we became a little more predictable," Bell said. "I call it vanilla volleyball. We weren't playing fast enough and then we'd lose our confidence. We lost our energy. They would show it on their faces and then it's hard to gain that momentum back when they have to create it themselves." Huffman came up huge for the Warriors. After just 19 kills across 10 sets to begin the season, she tallied a season-high 13 kills for Mohawk with nine of them coming in the first two sets. "It went well," Huffman said. "We did good the first two sets. We were up by a lot and had the confidence. It was great. I had a lot of confidence and I brought it to my teammates, so we had a lot of energy throughout the whole match." It was all Mohawk early on. The Warriors nearly went wire-to-wire with the lead in the opening set. Ahead just 6-5, Mohawk got three straight aces by Caitlin Ogg to open an 11-5 lead. Later, consecutive errors by Carey allowed the Warriors to balloon the lead to 16-9. The Blue Devils didn't go quietly though. Carey won the next four points and got within a point a few different times. Down 24-21, the Blue Devils took advantage of a Mohawk serving error and ace by Payton Vackert to draw within 24-23. But, the Warriors were able to squeak out the set on a hitting error by Carey. "We knew Biz was here for business, no pun intended," Bell said. "We had to understand when she was out of the front row, they still have hitters that can put it down. We have to utilize that time when she's in the back row." Mohawk was able to grind down the Blue Devils late in Set 2 to take a stranglehold on the match. The Warriors were up just 15-14 and 17-15 when they strung some points together. Aubrey Gottfried lined a kill and Huffman followed suit to go up 20-16. After a serving error, Chloe Miller put down a kill for Mohawk. Later, Ogg recorded a kill, Emerson Gurney served up an ace, and a hitting error on Carey put the Warriors up 2-0. "It makes their blocks work a lot harder," said Hoover of multiple hitters getting going. "They have a really good player in Parker Vackert, so Biz maybe doesn't get the swings she normally gets because those two really wash each other out as they go through the front row. The other hitters really have to step up and get it done." Carey fended off defeat with a nice start in Set 3. The Blue Devils raced out to a 6-1 lead following a block and kill by Parker Vackert. Mohawk was able to get back in the set and even went up 9-8 after a Klopp ace, but the Blue Devils kept coming. Carey scored four straight points to seize a 12-10 lead and never trailed again. The Warriors kept things tight, tying the set at 17 and 19. Ahead just 23-22, Sophia Klein clobbered a kill for the Blue Devils before a net violation on Mohawk gave Carey the set. Parker Vackert did a little bit of everything for Carey, finishing with 15 kills, 13 digs, and 11 assists. Rylie Stoops added nine kills and eight digs, Payton Vackert tallied 17 assists and four aces, Gabby Summit nabbed 14 digs, and Rachel Reinhart had 10 digs. "They're a very talented team and a very talented program," Bell said. "We knew that going in. Our other loss last year was Fremont Ross and we matched them. We played and didn't care who was on the other side. That's the same type of energy we have to create with Mohawk." Huffman was among a nice group of hitters that can help divert attention from Klopp. It wasn't a coming out party, per se, but Hoover liked what he saw. "She's been playing really well," he said of the sophomore. "She had a really good summer and had a really good start to the season. She's going to continue to get better. Miller finished with eight kills for Mohawk while Johnson had six. Ogg (seven digs) amassed 43 assists while Averie Barth and Russell each led the defense with 12 digs. "We had three sophomores out there and this was our first big mid-season match," Hoover said. "It was interesting to see how they'd respond and they were all outstanding. I love to see that because I know they're going to keep getting better."