ELIZABETHVILLE - After winning the first game at Upper Dauphin fairly easily by a 25-13 count, the Mifflin County Huskies experienced a letdown.
The Huskies played sluggishly, squandering opportunities and making several crucial unforced errors. The Trojans' Alyssa Bisigmaro scored six-straight points on her service and a Torrie Cleveland kill punctuated a nice Upper Dauphin run to give the Trojans an 18-11 lead and all the momentum in the second game.
The Huskies Coach Matt Kern called a sixty-second timeout, to "regroup and get our heads back in the game."
Did they ever regroup. The Huskies came back and won game two by a 32-30 count on an Alyssa Stackpole service ace, and Mifflin County completed the trifecta with a 25-20 win in game three and take a 3-0 win over Upper Dauphin in Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division play.
"Last night was a real motivator," Kern said. "We found out we were able to win."
After sustaining a loss the night before, Stackpole was everywhere on the court for the Huskies, digging out balls in the backcourt and providing kills up front. She also set the ball well. Her service ace to clinch game two was the only ace of the three-game match. She played the net with abandon, despite her diminutive size.
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Mifflin County travels to Central Dauphin today
In the first game, Mifflin County put the game away early. Chloe Benner recorded five service points in a row, Sarah Bonson had three in a row and Stackpole had a nifty kill as the Huskies opened up a 15-8 lead en route to the 25-13 win.
Game two was all Upper Dauphin early. McKenzie Miller ripped off four-straight points on her serve for the Trojans, and Bisigmaro tallied six points on her serve as the Trojans took an 18-11 lead. Following Kern's crucial timeout, the Huskies came out blazing. Benner again scored four service points, Bonson tallied three and Stackpole had a pair as Mifflin County drew to within 23-22. After a period of back and forth volleyball, Stackpole broke the tie with a nice left-handed stroke from out of bounds for a winner, setting up her ace.
In game three, the Trojans' Whitney Rudisill came to life scoring four kills and stuffing the ball at the net. It was too little, too late, however. Benner again was a wizard with her serve, at one point serving six points in a row for the Huskies. Kaitlyn Dreese was setting the ball with her usual tenacity and Bonson, Jenna Snyder and Stackpole were there to put the ball away. The score was 25-20 and 3-0 whitewash for Mifflin County.
"We served well and we passed well," Kern said. "If there is one area we need to work on, it would be to vary our attack a little bit."
Mifflin County is now 1-1 on the young campaign. Upper Dauphin is 0-2.
The Huskies also took the JV contest, 2-1. They lost the first game 25-19, but won games two and three by 25-17 and 15-8.
Mifflin County travels to Central Dauphin today.
