Haskell Varsity Volleyball beat the Mission Patriots in five sets with multiple sets ending within two scores. Haskell picked up the second and third set before ending the game on a close set five.
Haskell lost the first set convincingly, never leading and only tying at 0-0. Haskell would have a near comeback before dropping set one 21-25.
In set two, Haskell would respond with the biggest set win on the day. Haskell would come out of a timeout at the end of the set and quickly take care of business with a kill from Nevaeh Straley and then an ace from Brianna Mitchell, ending set two 25-19.
Set three was by far the most stressful set, as anyone could’ve won it as it was tied at 23-23. Even though Haskell started with a 5-1 lead with two kills and a block from Mya Dalgai, it wasn’t a lead built to last. Mission would battle to tie it up at 10-10 before falling behind and needing both of their timeouts. Haskell would use both of their timeouts at the very end before winning off an Alaina Dugi ace, 25-23.
Jayla Flient on how she and the team remain calm in a stressful set, “Going back to basics, remembering we work hard in practice, we play tough teams throughout our schedule,” she continues, “It’s just taking the real good things and amplifying them, applying and then executing them in games.”
Set four saw Haskell quickly jump out to a lead before falling behind and needing a timeout down 8-12. Haskell would battle back after the timeout, taking their last lead of the set 20-17 with two kills from Dalgai. Haskell fell behind, calling their last timeout and getting a long stop from the refs to tie the game at 23-23 off a Flient kill before losing 23-25.
The game came down to a set five, and it didn’t disappoint as the set was tied eight different times. Haskell started the game with an Ace from Dugi, which would spark a back-and-forth battle back and forth until they were tied 12-12. They took a timeout, and out of that timeout, Mission had a service error, Hailey Kelsey got a kill, and then Mission lost on an attack error, ending the game 15-12 and securing the fifth straight home win against the Mission Patriots.
Flient on how they’re going to keep the energy from a game like this, “Keeping in mind the things that help us stay successful, staying up and knowing we know how to pass, set, and hit, so if we just go back to that space, remain calm and come together as one unit, it won’t be hard to continue our success.”
Haskell now sits at 4-11 with it being 3-2 at home, 0-6 away, and 1-3 on neutral court. Haskell will be back in Coffin for its next game at 7 p.m. against the Bethel Threshers.
Flient on how Haskell protects home court: “We really take pride in being on home court; we wanna put on a show for the fans; we wanna show everybody that we can do it and have what it takes, and we come out and kick butt.”
Stat leaders for the game were Dalgai with 16 kills, Brenna Trancosa and Dugi with five Aces, Dalgai with four blocks, Jaspen Ellenwood with 37 assists, and Dugi with 17 digs.
