LAUREL HILL — North Okaloosa County will be represented in Thursday’s District 1-1A volleyball tournament final at Northview High School.
Laurel Hill School’s volleyball team made sure of that Monday beating Northview in the tournament play in match in straight sets. The Hoboes beat the Chiefs 25-17, 25-14 and 25-15.
The win earned Laurel Hill a date with Baker at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Northview. The Gators are the district’s top seed and are going for their 13th consecutive district title.
Laurel Hill (9-11) struggled at times against the Chiefs (0-14) on Monday after having beaten Northview twice during the regular season.
“We really need to get as deep as we can into the playoffs just for the experience factor for this young team,” Hobo Coach Kent Zessin said. “I don’t care who you are, it’s hard to beat any team three times. I was really scared that we might be overlooking.
“We weren’t overlooking them, but we didn’t play our top match tonight, which expected if you play a team like we did and beat them. You have to go out there every night and earn it. The girls played hard and did what we had to do to keep us alive.”
The Hoboes did what they had to do against the outmanned Chiefs.
Laurel Hill jumped to a quick 5-1 lead in the first set, but never was able to put Northview away.
Whenever the Chiefs rallied a kill by Kaylee L’Homme or Kylee Seymour or a big serve from Rachel Welsh or Bailey Stokes swung the momentum back in Laure Hill’s favor.
Northview took an early 4-0 lead in the second set, but was unable to hold off the Hoboes. The early deficit didn’t seem to bother the Hoboes as they climbed their way back into contention in the set. At times the Chiefs were their own worst enemies giving Laurel Hill five and six consecutive points on unforced errors.
Northview never really challenged the Hoboes in the final set thanks to the play of L’Homme.
L’Homme was a beast at the net scoring five of Laurel Hill’s first 10 points in the set. L’Homme finished things off with an ace to end the match and send the Chiefs home where they will watch the rest of the tournament.
L’Homme led Laurel Hill with 11 kills. She also had three aces. Welsh had four aces and eight digs.
Stokes had four aces and six assists. Kaylyn McLaney led the Hoboes with seven assists.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill advances in district volleyball tournament (PHOTOS)