Hawks Volleyball Upsets #1 Seed Asbury To Advance To CCS Championship Match

WILMORE, KENTUCKY- Following a 3-1 victory over the Belhaven Blazers in the CCS Quarterfinals, the 5th-seeded Huntingdon Hawks(15-19 overall, 9-7 CCS) traveled to and defeated the #1 seed in the tournament, the Asbury Eagles(21-7, 15-1 CCS), three sets to one.

The Hawks opened the match with an emphatic 25-18 set victory. In a post-season run that's been defined by efficient attacks, Huntingdon stayed true to the theme, recording 9 kills with only 2 errors on the set. Aly Harris got everything going with a kill on the first serve, but three consecutive Asbury errors put Huntingdon ahead 4-0. The Eagles tried to mount a comeback, but Huntingdon's efficiency laid their efforts to waste, as an Ashlen Janowski kill put a stamp on the opening set victory.

Huntingdon continued to roll into the second set, earning a 25-21 victory to go ahead 2-0. Following back-to-back kills from Morgan Suggs, the Hawks looked at an early 5-2 advantage. The Eagles would quickly respond to tie the score at 5 before going ahead 8-7.  They held a slight lead over the course of the next serves before kills from Janowski and Harris put Huntingdon back in front 13-12. Once in control, Huntingdon never looked back, as Izzy Valldeperas sent one over the net to put the Hawks in position to sweep the #1 seed.

With their backs against the wall, Asbury clawed to take the third set by a score of 25-20. The Eagles put together their best set of the match, recoring a a match-high 16 kills along side a match-low three errors to take the set. Huntingdon led midway through the set 11-10, but ultimately their 8 errors on the set would be too much to overcome.

To complete the upset, the Hawks took the fourth set 25-21.  Huntingdon led throughout the duration of the set, but there were certainly moments in which the Eagles were in position to take a lead. Featuring two ties and five instances of the teams being one point apart, the last set certainly had it's dramatic moments. Nonetheless, the Hawks made the most of Asbury's 9 errors with 8 kills of their own, coming from the likes of Janowski, Ellenburg, Valldeperas, and Harris in order to knock off the #1 seed and advance to the championship match.

Hawk Top Performers

• #12 Ashlen Janowski- 14 kills, 7 digs
• #21 Izzy Valldeperas- 9 kills, 6 digs
• #3 Jessi Hilyer- 3 kills, 7 digs, 24 assists

The Hawks face the Covenant Scots tomorrow, November 16th in the championship match. The opening serve is set for 12:00 PM CT.