Beware the serve of Hidden Valley senior Bre Lockhart.
Riding Lockhart’s service runs, along with 19 kills by senior Georgia Farthing, Hidden Valley dispatched River Ridge foe Patrick Henry in straight sets, 25-12; 25-12; 25-19, Thursday night in the PH gym.
The Lady Titans set the tone early, rolling out to a 11-1 lead in the first set before essentially trading points for the 25-12 win.
Hidden Valley was still clicking on all cylinders in the second, as Lockhart’s serve pushed the Titans to a quick 6-0 lead, then finished the deal after PH had closed to 18-12 when she served up 7 straight points to clinch the set.
Patrick Henry trailed 8-7 in the third set when Lockhart’s serve opened a five point gap, leaving the Titans all the room they needed to trade points for the 25-19 match-clincher.
The Titans, who substituted sparingly in the first two sets Thursday night, appear to be getting stronger with each match. Precision sets by junior Drew Freeland and the power attack at the net by Lockhart and Farthing are keying the Hidden Valley play.
Farthing finished with 19 kills, with Lockhart adding 7. Freeland put up 33 assists and part of Lockhart’s success from the service line came from 8 aces.
Patrick Henry’s power came from Elissa Miller and Megan Pace, each of whom had three kills. Olivia Newman served 7 aces for the Patriots.
The final regular season run for Hidden Valley culminates October 29th in the much-anticipated rematch with Southwest County rival Cave Spring. Hidden Valley won the first meeting in a 3-2 thriller in the Titan gym.
Bill Turner
