Inman def. Valley Heights 25-18, 25-13

It was a dominant performance for Inman for both sets and it started with Inman establishing an early 5-1 lead with five straight. They would grow that lead to eight with an 18-10 lead, but Valley Heights would rally. The Mustangs got it back to a three-point deficit, but the Teutons pulled away to win 25-18.

The second set was more of the same with a 4-1 start for Inman. They would force Valley Heights to call a timeout after Inman got out to a 9-3 lead. Things spiraled for the Mustangs with the Teutons scoring 13 of the next 16 points to go up 22-6. Valley Heights fought hard all the way, though, scoring seven straight, but the hole was too big. Inman won the second set 25-13 to clinch the match.

Valley Heights def. Hoxie 25-21, 25-21

Valley Heights was able to quickly shake off their lack-luster performance in the opening match with a strong start in the first set against Hoxie. They started with a 4-1 lead which grew to 9-4. Hoxie stayed in it with three straight followed by three straight by the Mustangs to go up 12-7. Once again, Hoxie was able to shrink the Mustangs’ lead back down to 13-11. It was close up till it was 20-19 Valley Heights’ lead when they scored three of next four to go up 23-20. Valley Heights took care of business to win the set 25-21.

The second set continued the trend of Valley Heights getting up early with this time being a 7-2 lead which ballooned to a set-high 15-8 lead. Hoxie then went on a massive run scoring eight of the next nine points to tie it 16-16. Valley Heights get their mojo back with three straight points, and the Mustangs were able to pull away en route to a 25-21 set and match victory.

St. Mary’s Colgan def. Valley Heights 25-14, 21-25, 25-14

The first set was all St. Mary’s-Colgan with a quick 7-3, and they never looked back. The Panthers’ largest lead was 20-9 and both teams traded points in the final ten points of the set to give SMC a 25-14 opening set victory.

The second set was a stalemate for the first half of the set with both teams each trading blows. Valley Heights didn’t have their first lead, though, until it was 10-9. Colgan took a 13-12 lead, but Valley Heights retaliated with four points in a row to go up 16-13 for the longest run of the set. What felt like a comfortable 19-14 lead for the Mustangs quickly deteriorated after the Panthers got five of the next six to give Colgan a 20-19 lead. It was a strong late push for Valley Heights that got them over the top to force third set with the second set going final 25-21.

Sadly for Valley Heights, the third set was much more like the first set. It was close early with both teams going back and forth with the Mustangs going up 4-3, but SMC would score 10 of the next 11 to go up 13-5 and they never looked back. Valley Heights ran out of steam and dropped the final set 25-14.

The Mustangs went 1-2 in pool play and were unable to advance to the semifinals.