KILLDEER -- Nobody said winning had to be pretty.
The Hazen volleyball team avoided a collapse with a rough 3-1 victory over Killdeer in Class B action Tuesday at the Killdeer High School gymnasium.
The Bison crushed Killdeer 25-10, 25-12 in the first two games. However, the resilient Cowboys fought off the hard-charging Bison to take Game 3 25-23. Killdeer stayed with Hazen in the final game, but couldn't pull the upset, losing 25-19.
"We did a lot of things well," Hazen coach Kim Wolf said. "When I subbed in Game 3, we lost some of our focus. You put 14 kids on the floor, you're going to give up some points."
Of the 48 total points scored in the third game, 31 came on service errors, hitting errors and violations, which was the theme for both squads.
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"We didn't do a good job of seeing the net at all," Wolf said. "I really thought we had a chance at winning (the third game)."
Game 3 went back and forth with both teams coming back from deficits. Killdeer led Hazen by as many as six points before the Bison kicked it into gear. With the score knotted at 23-23, Hazen committed a pair of hitting errors to give Killdeer the victory.
"We played with them pretty well in the Games 4 and 5," Killdeer coach Cindy Hanson said. "They stuck in there. They kept their heads in there."
Killdeer played well enough to win in the final two games, but couldn't recover after being devastated by the Hazen hitting attack in the first two games.
The Bison took an early 7-2 lead in Game 1 en route to the victory. With Hazen up 14-10 in the second game, the Bison closed out the game with an 11-2 run. The first two contests were played much like Hazen has played all season. The Bison are 22-1 overall, including a 3-0 mark in the district thanks to solid play from a versatile group.
Wolf said there were areas of the match where she was pleased with her team's effort.
"I though we played good defense," Wolf said. "Our serve-receive was good."
Hanson said her squad made errors, but used it as a learning experience.
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"We had a lot of passing errors and we didn't adjust, defensively," Hanson said. "One of the things we're working on is being more consistent. We're a young team. We're still learning."
Hazen was led by senior Alison Christian, who had seven kills, six digs, four aces and two blocks. Senior Kaitlin Meyhoff had nine kills and two blocks. Sophomore setter Brianna Beecher dished out 28 assists.
Killdeer was led by junior Tana Trotter, who had eight kills and a block. Junior Katie Dukart had 17 digs and an ace.
