Fort still on top of SVD

FORT DEFIANCE — Coaches will tell you that it’s not how you start, but how you finish that is important. That mantra applies to matches as well as seasons, and as Fort Defiance downed the visiting Wilson Memorial Hornets on Tuesday night in three game 25-21, 25-20, 25-13 the Indians let everyone know they will be finishing strong.

Coach Lynn Alexander received heavy contributions from up and down the lineup keeping the Indians perfect in the district and leaving her pleased with the way her team is playing.

“I am so proud of this team and of the way we are playing,” Alexander said. “Everything that we worked on in practice, they fixed tonight, they did it all.”

And while Fort was near the top of its game on Tuesday, the Hornets still presented a formidable challenge to the No. 1 team in the district. Game 1 was tied at eight before the Indians went on an 8-1 run to virtually put the game away. Becca Houff led the team with three kills and four service points in the game.

“We knew that this was going to be a tough game tonight against one of our rivals, so we tried to come out prepared and ready to play,” Houff said after the game. “We are just trying to play to our potential right now, but I don’t think that we have reached our peak.”

The Hornets rallied from a 10-4 deficit early in the second game to tie the score at ten forcing Alexander to call a timeout, hoping to stop the Hornets growing momentum. That plan worked as Fort slowly pulled away for a 25-20 victory, getting production up front from a variety of players, including Brittany Hanger, Anna Martinez, and Brooke Sigrist, all of whom recorded big kills at a net that is usually dominated by Houff and Katie Dunsmore.

“It is really nice to have more than one or two go-to players,” Alexander said. “We really had some girls step up tonight and that just gives our team even more confidence.”

Game 3 saw the Indians jump out to an early lead as Hanger, Martinez, and Sigrist all recorded kills pushing the Fort lead to 15-7 and the Indians would not look back winning the final game 25-13.

Becca Houff led the team with 12 points, 20 digs, and 13 kills while Jordan Leake had a game-high 30 assists.

Fort also won the JV match in two games 25-4, 25-20. Megan Good led the team with 11 points, including seven aces.