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WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE — Some things are much easier said than done.
When Hillsboro drew up its game plan to try and beat Miami Trace on Thursday, you can bet your bottom dollar that it included instructions to try and slow down MT’s Addyson Butts.
But that’s one of those things. Easy to plan. Hard to do.
Throughout the night, Butts terrorized Hillsboro’s defense and found open holes on the floor to attack. The senior’s 23-kill effort paced the Panthers (10-0, 4-0 FAC) to a breezy 25-12, 25-14, 25-11 victory over the Indians, who were previously unbeaten.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
“This really falls back on our practice and what we’ve been working on,” Butts said. “We just came and played together and played aggressively. We knew [Hillsboro] was going to be a pretty good team. They’ve been successful this season. So we knew we just needed to play our best volleyball in order to win tonight.”
Butts’ partner in crime, per usual, was junior Lauren Farrens. When Butts rotated out of the lineup, setter Kylie Yeazel often looked Farrens’ way and she delivered the goods.
That duo — alongside teammate Lauren Guess — is a huge reason why the Panthers are still unbeaten nearing the halfway point of the regular season.
But on Thursday, while the Panthers’ horses indeed carried them to the finish line, the win’s origin came from the service line where MT tallied seven aces and consistently kept Hillsboro’s offense out of rhythm.
“Going into the game, we knew that serving and serve-receive is a strong suit for us,” Farren said. “We knew we had to serve to get them out of system. [Hillsboro] is a good hitting team. So if we got them out of their system, we could get the ball back and put it away.”
Tale of the tape
Farrens gave the Panthers a lead right out of the gates before Hillsboro went ahead 2-1 with an ace from Kayla Seeling. Butts then put MT ahead 4-3 with consecutive kills and the Panthers never trailed again.
PHOTOS: Images from Miami Trace’s win over Hillsboro
An ace from Farrens made it 6-3 before Hillsboro’s Cam Spruell posted a block to cut the deficit to 6-5. That’s, however, when Yeazel and Cecilia Robinson led the troops on an 8-0 run to make it 14-5. From there, Miami Trace coasted to a 25-12 match-opening win.
It was the same old song and dance in the second.
Butts put the Panthers ahead early and passed the baton to Farrens and company. After seizing a 14-7 advantage, MT continued to create distance, building leads of 18-10 and 22-12 en route to a 25-14 victory.
Hillsboro scored first in the third but when Butts made it a 2-1 game, it was all but over from there. Farrens logged back-to-back kills midway through for a 14-7 count and Butts followed suit late to make it 22-10. That was more than enough momentum to polish off a 25-11 win.
“We’re just playing every team like they’re the best team we’ve played,” Yeazel said. “We’re never playing down to [the competition]. We know they’re coming for us and that they’re going to play their best volleyball against us. So we just have to keep playing what we know.”
Stat book
Butts led the Panthers with a game-high 23 kills while Farrens added 14 kills and 13 digs. Guess had four kills, Sydney Carter logged a team-high 14 digs, Cecilia Robinson finished with three kills and 13 digs, and Allison Carter posted 11 digs.
Hillsboro (8-1, 3-1 FAC) was paced by Tylee Davis, who logged six kills, while Samantha Tipton had four of her own alongside a pair of blocks.
What’s on tap
After the loss, Hillsboro has a short turnaround and will be back in action on Saturday in a tri-match at Zane Trace against the Pioneers and Western Brown. Meanwhile, the Panthers look to Tuesday where they travel to Washington.
“I feel like this group can be really, really good. I’m excited to see how far we can go,” Butts said. “We’re about the same team [as we were] last year. To have that extra year of experience, the connection and the extra reps we’re getting, I think we can make it pretty far this year.”
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