Willard sweeps Huron to take control in Bay

HURON — Huron took a late lead in the first set of its SBC Bay Division showdown with Willard on Tuesday night when Kelsey Lykins lowered the boom. Emphasis on boom. Lykins, one of four seniors on the Willard roster, smacked six straight kills — many of them rockets — to give the Crimson Flashes a lead that eventually turned into a three-set win in the pivotal conference match. Willard defeated Huron 25-22, 25-12, 25-23 to complete a season sweep and take control in the Bay. The Flashes knew the road to a conference title goes through Huron, a perennial state power. The visitors looked the part of conference champion. Willard, ranked No. 9 in Division V, improved to 13-4 overall and 6-0 in the Bay. The Flashes, who beat Huron in five sets in early September, have won nine of their last 10 matches. "As we've gotten older you could see our progress," Lykins said. "With them losing the majority of their starting six we saw an opportunity to take charge in the SBC and we wanted to prove ourselves. "We been working for this moment. We talk about it quite often in practice. We've really focused on this is the game we want. After we beat them the first time we really keyed in on 'we can really win the SBC.' " Lykins finished the match with 12 kills and eight digs. "You gotta swing and put it away," she said. Lykins got plenty of help. Leah Weiss had nine kills and seven digs and Camryn Weirs added six kills and five digs. Teagan Schaffer finished with four kills and five blocks and Natalie Slone — who missed the first meeting with Huron with an injury — added four kills and three blocks. Senior Morgan Lofland had 11 digs. "Kelsey was drawing the defense and Teagan would get a hit," Willard coach Ashley Bond said. "Kelsey was drawing the defense and Leah the defense was get a hit. Camryn would get a hit. Once they started figuring out Kelsey, the next person stepped up. "We knew they were young and we have all the experience. If you look on the court, it's lots of veterans. They don't ever look panicked; they just look like, 'here we go.' " Willard took a quick 6-1 lead, helped by three aces by Caitlyn Weaver, who finished the match with four aces and 29 assists. Huron went on a 6-0 run capped by Maggie Orzech's ace, but Lykins dominated late to put the Flashes up 1-0. Willard dominated Set 2 with a pair of 6-0 runs. Weirs' ace ended the set. Huron led Set 3 7-3 with its only lead of three or more points in the entire match. An Orzech kill gave the Tigers an 11-10 lead, but the Flashes went on an 8-0 run. Huron went on a 6-0 run to cut Willard's lead to 24-22 before a Schaeffer kill ended the set at 25-23. Willard called two late timeouts before putting the match away. "The last couple of practices we've had I've walked away feeling like we are prepared. The girls are dialed in," Bond said. "They had that confidence that they knew they were gonna do well. The way they were talking was a whole different mentality than last year. It was like, let's go play and have fun. That set the tone for everything." Orzech led Huron (9-8, 4-2 Bay) with eight kills and Azure Waldock added six kills and three aces. Reece Hotz had 23 assists and Adelyn Van Sickle finished with 14 digs. "I didn't have them well prepared. Simple," Huron coach Don Wood said. "Willard was better prepared to play this match. They came in and kicked our tails from beginning to end." Wood felt good about his team Saturday. The Tigers took a set from Division III No. 1 Gilmour Academy in a competitive loss that ended Huron's five-match winning streak. His mood was much different Tuesday. "Every time I think we've turned the corner I get reminded that we haven't turned the corner yet," he said. "We played some fantastic volleyball on Saturday. Not much of that carded over."