Harlan's Nailah Randle placed on a dominant efficiency, and the Hawks wanted each little bit of it in opposition to Brennan on Tuesday at Northside Sport Gymnasium.
Randle notched 23 kills in main Harlan to a grueling 5 set win over Brennan, 25-17, 22-25, 26-24, 16-25, 15-10, in a match between the highest two groups in District 29-6A.
With the win, Harlan (22-10, 8-0) moved into first place within the District 29-6A standings forward of Brennan (27-7, 7-1), capping off the primary spherical of district competitors.
Randle, a 6-1 senior outdoors hitter and LSU commit, stated she knew she must step up her recreation in opposition to a Brennan squad which fought to the top, regardless of lacking two key gamers due to accidents.
"I simply needed to work for my staff and produce for my staff," Randle stated. "I knew it was a giant recreation. So, I simply needed to have the ability to get the job carried out for my staff."
Harlan coach Monica Gonzales stated her staff was capable of finding a strategy to grind out the win over a troublesome Brennan squad.
"It was actually an excellent match," Gonzales stated. "They're an excellent staff. They work onerous; they’ve actually good youngsters. We simply type of chipped away. We talked about our first contact and it fell aside in our fourth set, however we simply regrouped and performed onerous and that's what's vital."
Randle was a part of a well-balanced Harlan assault that included senior proper facet hitter Leeanna Hamilton, a Tulsa commit who contributed 15 kills, and Holly Sieh, a senior outdoors hitter who added eight kills.
"They (Randle and Hamilton) got here out and performed onerous," Gonzales stated. "They've been part of this system, they've been on varsity for 4 years. They've recognized the method; it's ingrained in them. They got here up once we wanted them, whether or not it was blocking, whether or not it was passing, whether or not it was clearly the kills. However they got here to play and so they understood that. They're our leaders."
Brennan coach Melissa Dahle stated her squad needed to make changes to counteract Randle's athleticism.
"Nailah's superb," Dahle stated. "Her contact level is above us and that’s what it’s. We made some blocking changes, we made some defensive changes and we made some performs on them. I imply Nailah goes to get her kills, and we knew that coming into the sport. She is a good participant."
Regardless of having two of their starters and staff captains, seniors Aviana Contreras and Mia Nunez, out with accidents, Dahle stated was happy with her squad's effort.
"Harlan is a good staff," Dahle stated. "We now have some youngsters out proper now. So, we’re in a brand new lineup, making new changes. Children stepped up that haven't received a number of taking part in time this yr, so I'm very happy with the best way we performed. Harlan is a well-coached staff so I knew they’d come out swinging."
Senior outdoors hitter Kayla Rodriguez led Brennan with 15 kills, whereas Adele Ponce notched 10 kills and Kiersten Rodriguez, Kayla's twin sister, added six.
Harlan overcame a gradual begin within the first set, occurring a 6-4 run to take a 9-7 benefit and ending the body on a 15-7 run to shut it out. Hamilton and center hitter Aryana Waluk every received two kills within the decisive run.
Brennan received off the mat by successful the second set 25-22 behind the play of the Rodriguez sisters, who had key kills within the latter a part of the body, and an ace from Khloe Cisneros.
Harlan regained the momentum within the third set, because the Hawks received out to a fast lead earlier than Brennan got here again to tie it at 14-14. However Randle picked Harlan up, closing out the body with 4 kills because the Hawks pulled out a 26-24 win.
Brennan answered once more within the see-saw affair, because the Bears received out to a 12-5 lead within the fourth set earlier than successful the body 25-16. Kayla Rodriguez led the best way with seven kills within the set.
Within the decisive fifth set, Harlan received out to a 6-2 lead and held on for a 15-10 win within the body as Randle notched three of the ultimate 4 kills for the Hawks. Camyrn Batts ended the match with an ace, one in every of three she served within the match.
The win helped Harlan avenge a two-set loss to Brennan within the Pieper Match in August.
Each groups begin the second spherical of district Friday as Harlan hopes to increase its four-game successful streak when the Hawks tackle Stevens. Brennan seems to be to bounce again in opposition to Taft.
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