Hawks showing improvement

HOUSTON — For the last several years, the Houston volleyball program has been a work in progress. Now, thanks to that work, the Hawks are seeing some progress.

Last week, Houston scored its first victory of the season, a 3-0 sweep of Glennallen, and followed with a successful run through the Valdez Invitational.

“We just played really well,” Houston assistant coach Colton Conner said earlier this week.

Following the victory over Glennallan at Glennallen High School last Thursday, the Hawks cruised through the first day of the Valdez Invite. Houston scored victories over Cordova, Glennallen, Galena and Hutchison during round-robin play. With that success, Houston emerged as one of the top teams in pool play and earned the No. 1 seed of the tournament’s silver bracket.

Conner said that accomplishment has provided a tremendous confidence boost for the Hawks.

“They never thought that could happen,” Conner said.

Conner said the play of the Houston middle hitters was key during the weekend. Sophomore middle hitter Maggie Theis was one of two Hawks to be named all-tournament, along side senior Amber Action. Conner said junior middle hitter Taylor Holen also stood out.

“If they didn’t block the ball, they tipped it every time the ball was going over the net,” Conner said of the Houston middle hitters. “It did not matter if it was a free ball or a kill, they were getting a hand on it.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.