Lady Trojans ground Eagles, head to District final

DRUMMOND – The sounds of Drummond fans yelling “Roof!” were quickly overtaken by raucous cheering. Holly Hauptman’s game-winning block of Valley Christian’s Margaret Harvey’s attempted spike gave the Lady Trojans a sweep of the visiting Eagles in the semifinals of the District 13C Volleyball Tournament Thursday night.

“This means a lot. This pushes us to getting closer to our goal of playing in Divisionals and then State,” said senior Hannah Bradshaw. “We really needed this because we’ve been applying everything we’ve learned so far to this game.”

Each of the three games was played to a close score. Drummond managed to earn wins in the first two sets 25-19 and 25-23. The Lady Trojans were again nursing minimal leads in the third game until they hit a run that put them up 23-15. It was at that point the first and only lull hit their game play.

Valley started chipping away at the lead, scoring more off Drummond miscues than their own efforts. As the score began to tighten it seemed as though those in attendance were expecting DHS Head Coach Brooks Phillips to call a timeout.

A timeout that never came.

“I think just knowing that it was in our control and we had it and just to stay calm and keeping up the energy,” said Bradshaw of her team’s sudden turnaround.

And turn it around they did. After stopping the run at 23-18, the Eagles made one final run before Drummond put the set and the match away.

“I trust them,” said Phillips of the Game 3 run and opting not to call a timeout. “They’ve been doing it all year in games and that was the time to do it. They’re ready.”

Hauptman’s block was the only one recorded in the game for the locals. Sydney Phillips led the attack at the net with nine kills while Gracie Weaver chipped in five. Jessie Struna dished out 16 assists.

Drummond will travel to Seeley Lake Saturday evening for a battle of the district’s top two teams. The match will start at 6:30 p.m. and will be livestreamed via the Seeley-Swan Activities page on Facebook. The winner will automatically advance to the Divisional Tournament with the loser possibly subject to a play-in game Monday at the higher seeded team’s gym.