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Prep Volleyball: Harrisburg waxes West Frankfort

The Harrisburg girls volleyball team smashed their way into the second round of the IHSA Regional tournament at Benton on Monday night by defeating the West Frankfort Redbirds in two dominating sets; 25-14, 25-12.

In the first set, the Bulldogs showed they came to win by opening the scoring with an ace from Toni Crisp. This was followed up by a strong kill from Bryleigh Buchanan to give the Bulldogs a 2-point lead which they maintained throughout the first half of the set.

Though the Redbirds nipped at the Bulldogs' heels, the Harrisburg team would not allow the Redbirds to overtake them. Then, when Madeline Rider came to the serving line, the Bulldogs powered past their opponents and went on a 7-point run to bring the score to 12-6.

The Redbirds were not able to recover or catch up after that run and the Bulldogs eventually took the set 25-14.

"We were missing out senior setter," said Heather Cox, Bulldogs' coach. "I thought the kids responded really well. They did a very good job keeping the ball in play."

In the second set, the Bulldogs continued to charge and opened with a 4-point run. However, the Redbirds showed some life and rallied back to not only tie the game, but eventually take the lead for a moment, 7-6. But a hard kill from Matt Hawkins ended the scoring for the Redbirds and brought the lead back to the Bulldogs.

The Redbirds continued to desperately keep up with the Bulldogs, but then Crisp returned to the serving line. She led the Bulldogs on an 11-point streak making the score 23-11 in favor of the Harrisburg squad.

The Redbirds gained possession of the ball for one last ditch attempt, but Buchanan spiked a hard kill again to give possession back to the Bulldogs who ended the match, 25-12.

"They did enough to take care of business," Cox said after the match. "I don't think we played to the best of our ability, but I think they did what they needed to do to live to fight another day."

The Bulldogs will face Carbondale at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Benton high school. Though they found a lot of success against West Frankfort, Cox said that her team still has some adjusting to do in order to find the same success against a tougher Carbondale team.

"They have two fantastic left-handed hitters that we have struggled with adjusting on defense last time," Cox said. "So if we can adjust our defense, we have a definite chance to get to the finals."