BROOMFIELD — Holy Family’s Anna Hodell had consecutive blasts stuffed at the net during the opening set, only to see her team keep it alive.
Her third try, a success — turns out, a feathery touch was all that was needed.
“When hitting wasn’t working I tipped it over just to mix it up and it ended up working,” the sophomore said. “And that’s kind of similar to what we’ve done as a team.”
Adapt. The Tigers have done plenty of it while turning their season around.
With the main gym at Holy Family under construction, players and fans packed into the smaller confines of the school’s secondary hardwood venue as Holy Family swept Niwot Thursday evening, 25-15, 25-14, 25-18.
It was the Tigers’ fifth sweep in their last six matches, a run that has seen coach Krista Solomon’s group rise into the Class 4A RPI’s top 25 with postseason play looming.
“We’re finding ways to be successful, finding ways to encourage each other and come together as a team,” Solomon said. “We’re in a good place now and it’s a good time to be in a good place.”
Hodell led the way with 12 kills for the Tigers (10-11), while Rileigh Lynch added another eight. Peyton Frank, meanwhile, had 16 digs and is now 34 away from becoming the fifth player in state history to reach 2,000 in her career.
The Tigers — 5-10 in the middle of October — found another gear the past two weeks while rising to 24th in RPI. Hodell and Frank said a team meeting earlier in the month helped change the team’s focus.
“Our chemistry has gotten a lot better,” Frank said after Thursday’s nonleague matchup. “We’ve come together as a team and realized we’re way better than what we’ve been performing as.”
On the Tigers’ Senior Night, visiting Niwot — with only one senior on roster in Abby Kaus — showed its youth in falling down early in all three sets.
Natasha Terekhova had 13 kills for the Cougars (8-11), who are currently outside of regional projections a year after losing eight seniors from their 25-win, state runner-up team.
“We have a bunch of youngsters and the pace of the game was really, really fast for them at the beginning,” Niwot coach Daisha Agho said. “They’re starting to pick it up.”
Early on, the striking power of sophomores Hodell and Kaley Roller fueled Holy Family to a big lead. Hodell’s persistent winner highlighted the tone as Roller recorded a couple devastating kills in a runaway opening set.
In the second, Niwot rallied after falling in an 18-3 deficit but couldn’t overcome. Then in the third, the Tigers recorded four of their 10 aces on the night before Hodell finished the game with a kill.
Holy Family will conclude its regular season slate at the Evergreen tournament Saturday.
Then, in all likelihood, it’ll travel for regionals next week.
“I think we are excited for an opportunity to get into regionals,” Solomon said. “Talking to the team, if you get regionals, that’s one more week together. So, we’re just playing for time. And if we win regionals, we get one more week after that.”
