LAUREL HILL — A slow start by Laurel Hill School’s volleyball team against Rocky Bayou Christian wasn’t indicative of the game's end results.
The Knights jumped out to a quick 8-1 lead on their way to winning the first set 25-20. The rest of the match belonged to the Hoboes as they swept the final three sets to take their season opener.
Laurel Hill won the match 3-1 by scores of 20-25, 25-14, 25-19 and 25-15.
Kaylee L’Homme led the Hoboes with six kills. Kylee Seymour added four kills.
Things looked bleak for the Hoboes in the opening moments of the first set as the Knights jumped to the quick lead. With Laurel Hill trailing 8-1, Hobo Coach Kent Zessin called a timeout to calm his team down.
The strategy worked. The Hoboes outscored the Knights 19-17 down the remainder of the set as Rocky Bayou held on to go up 1-0 in the match.
Laurel Hill (1-0) settled into its game the rest of the way, sweeping the final three sets of the match.
“I was worried there for a second,” Zessin said. “I felt like we didn’t have a very good practice yesterday and I was really concerned that we were going to carry that over into the game. The first eight points I was, ‘Yep.’
“When you’ve been coaching this game for 16 years you can kind of predict this stuff. I’m very proud of the girls. They didn’t get their heads down.”
Zessin didn’t hesitate to go to the bench. All nine players on the Hobo roster saw significant playing time and contributed in one way or another.
Rachel Welsh, Bailey Stokes and Lauren Mitchell served the ball well. Micah McVay played solid defense and did a good job of setting Laurel Hill’s big hitters. Libero Olivia Stewart was all over the court playing strong defense.
“They came back around (after the slow start) and got the chemistry going,” Zessin said. “I think tonight our defense was outstanding. We didn’t let a lot of balls hit the ground.
“Defensively we did real well. Serving we did a pretty good job. We just have to do a little better job on our offense when we are making contact with the ball on our hits.”
Zessin credited the Knights for giving the Hoboes a tough battle.
“We played a real scrappy team in Rocky (with) that being their first game,” Zessin said. “I’m sure they will improve. They have a real good coaching staff over there and they will be a better team the next time we play them.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Laurel Hill overcomes slow start to down Rocky Bayou (PHOTOS)