Hidden Valley Sweeps Vikings In Volleyball Opener

Northside's Chloe Pusha skies above the net to score a Viking point Tuesday night. Hidden Valley prevailed to win the match 3-0 in the regular season opener for both teams.
Northside’s Chloe Pusha skies above the net to score a Viking point Tuesday night. Hidden Valley prevailed to win the match 3-0 in the regular season opener for both teams.

There were a lot of questions waiting to be answered on the strength of defending Group 3A state volleyball champions Hidden Valley entering the 2014 campaign.

After all, head coach Carla Poff had lost standouts Madison Morris, Hanna Podeschi, Skylar Kendrick and Brooke Mitchell to graduation from that championship squad.
No fear, Titan faithful.
Taking up right where they left off, the Titans methodically swept the Nothside Vikings 25-9; 25-18; 25-22 Tuesday night in the Hidden Valley gym.
“We played really good tonight,” Poff said after the match. “It’s easily the best we’ve played including the recent preseason tournament in Florida.”
Poff knew replacing last year’s powerful lineup wouldn’t be easy.
“I’m very excited,” she noted. “We tossed around our lineups and several players stepped up in filling key roles.”
Northside, the defending Conference 31 champions from last year, took a big hit before the season even started when outside hitter Aleah Keaton went out with a knee injury.
“That was a tough loss. Aleah is out at least through November,” Viking head coach Amy Crawford said Tuesday night. Keaton, a team captain, sat on the bench in warmup gear during Tuesday’s contest.
The Vikings gave Hidden Valley plenty of help Tuesday night, committing a number of unforced errors.
“We were too passive against a team like Hidden Valley,” Crawford noted. “We have a lot of youth who are still learning each game.”
It made it difficult for those young players to open against a team like Hidden Valley, but a plan Crawford has in place for a reason.
“This helps us prepare for a tough season,” Crawford added. “We want matches like this before district play begins. The goal is to continue to improve.”
Tuesday night theTitans came out of the gate in midseason form. They rolled out to leads of 10-4 and 21-7 in game one before Bre Lockhart’s service point finished the win at 25-9.
Game two was tied at 14 when Hidden Valley strung out an 11-4 run to put itself in the driver’s seat.
Game three went back and forth and was tied at 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21 and 22 before Hidden Valley scored the final thee points to secure the match sweep.
Sarah Mitchell led the Titans with 10 kills and 9 digs, with Lockhart adding 9 kills. Drew Freeland came through with 25 assists and 5 aces for Hidden Valley.
Alexis Hueston paced the Vikings with 7 kills and 5 blocks, while Courtney Altizer set the Northside attack with 18 assists.
Bill Turner

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