The Hunting Hills Lightning senior boys’ volleyball team couldn’t match up to the Notre Dame Cougars Wednesday night.
The teams met at Hunting Hills High School, where the Lightning fell in three straight sets (26-24, 25-18, 25-10).
Cougars coach AJ Mahoney said his team picked up the tempo as the game went on.
“We started a little rough and Hunting Hills had a ton of energy – I think them being in their home gym gave them a bit of a boost. But I’m really happy my guys could weather that storm a bit,” said Mahoney.
Mahoney said his players have worked on their mentally toughness all year long. This game match was a perfect example of that, he added.
“We’ve been working on coming up in big moments, and I’m happy the work we’re doing in practice is paying off,” said Mahoney.
Notre Dame player Liam Krause said after the slow start, his team really began to play well.
“When we start to get our energy up there’s no stopping us,” said Krause.
“We played pretty well today. A bunch of guys are stepping up, and we’ve been putting in a lot of work.”
Blake Henwood, Hunting Hills head coach, said they have played many games this year where they start off well, but can’t finish strong.
“It’s been kind of the story of our year,” Henwood said. “We can’t seem to win that tight first set and then everything seems to fall right off the rails – it’s been frustrating to say the least.”
The Lightning will need to work hard in practice to solve its inconsistencies, Henwood said.
“We still have a ways to go to beat teams like Notre Dame or Lindsay Thurber,” he said.
“We know the ability is there … but we need the guys to hold themselves more accountable and give a full effort. After 20 or 25 points it seems some guys let off the gas pedal a bit.”
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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