Hancock’s Lynn Heinonen puts up a serve in the Bulldogs’ match against Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Friday at the Hancock Gym. (Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)
HANCOCK — After their first loss of the season to the Calumet Copper Kings earlier in the week, the Hancock Bulldogs volleyball team got back on the winning track on Friday with a three straight-set victory over the Dollar Bay-Tamarack City Blue Bolts.
They won 25-18, 25-15, and 25-9 to improve to 12-1 on the season.
“Calumet was an eye-opener for us,” said Bulldogs’ coach Kristan Coleman. “They play fast and beat us in three. We looked at the film and broke down what we needed to do better.
“That included serving and just being on our toes on defense. Both of those came out better tonight.”
Hancock started out serving strong from the start. In short, they put the ball over the net and made the Blue Bolts earn their points. The first set was the Blue Bolts best as they played the Bulldogs closest but still came up short.
In the second, the two teams tied at seven, eight, nine and 11 before the Bulldogs pulled away with the service of senior Lana Aho. She put her team up 16 -11. They went on to win the set by 10 points.
When senior Ella Storm took over the ball at the service line early in the third, she widened the score from a 3-2 lead to a 12-3 Bulldog lead. She and Brooke Koskela led the team, according to their coach. Storm had eight aces and Koskela put down an impressive 12 kills to lead the Bulldogs.
“Ella was outstanding tonight also in running balls down,” said Coleman. “She moved her feet and got to the balls on time. As well, she hit strongly from the outside.
“Brooke was right there with her.”
A 12-3 lead quickly turned into a 23-6 score. While the Blue Bolts’ Violet Storm was able to put together a run of three late, it was not nearly enough.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs hit the road this week to take on the Wykons in West Iron County on Tuesday at 7 p.m. They then return home to face Iron Mountain on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The Blue Bolts will welcome the Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes to Dollar Bay on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., and then travel to Baraga on Friday for a 6:30 p.m. matchup against the Vikings.
