STORY BY CORA TASSET
PHOTOS BY ALLIE SCHWEIZER
The Fort Hays State Tiger volleyball team hosted the Emporia State University Hornets on Saturday, September 21. The Tigers fought hard and came together as a team to beat the Hornets, 3 sets to 2.
“It feels really good, I mean it was a long battle, but we finally went out there and played as a team and pulled off the win,” said Delaney Humm, freshman hitter (10).
The Tigers dropped the first set to ESU, 25-22 but FHSU gained some momentum in the second set and won 25-20. The Hornets came out on fire during the third set and beat the Tigers 25-22 again. In the fourth set the FHSU Tigers were determined to win the match and battered the Hornets 25-13.
Both teams were tied in sets 2-2, forcing them to play a fifth set to 15. The Tigers would not let Emporia State back on top, and the Hornets were defeated 15-6.
Humm has been leading the team in kills (125), service aces (7), and she is second in digs (75) behind the senior libero Abbie Hayes.
“It definitely is a good feeling, but it is a team sport. It is really nice to be leading in all that stuff, but it just means that I need my teammates there to help me get those passes and those kills, and I couldn’t do it without any of them” Humm said.
Humm had 17 kills, 14 digs, and 19 points throughout the five intense sets on Saturday.
This season Coach Wood-Atkins is most impressed by her junior setter Katie Darnell (9). Darnell leads the team in assists (278) and is third in digs (71) behind Hayes and Humm.
“She is still very young in the college world, but she doesn’t act like it. She steps on to that court with confidence and has been making very smart decisions and critical plays. I always knew she had it, but to see it coming out this early is going to help us win games,” Wood-Atkins said.
Darnell had 49 assists and 15 digs during the matches on Saturday evening.
Wood-Atkins believes her team is doing better every night and is ready for the young team to compete harder and win more matches throughout the season.
“I felt like our team is finding more of a rhythm every night. We still have moments where you can see our youth come out, but I felt really good and we are just a good team,” she said. “I think everyone is starting to step up and take the reins which is what I want from them.”
The Tigers played well and many of them are stepping up and filling roles for the team helping them defeat the Hornets 3 sets to 2. The Fort Hays State Tiger volleyball team will be competing against Central Oklahoma on Friday, September 27 at 6 p.m.