The Highland volleyball team hosted an eight team tournament in the Walter's Wellness Center on the campus of Highland Community College on September 1st and 2nd. The Scotties went 3-1 on the weekend beating Southwestern CC (3-0), MCC-Longview (3-2), and Ellsworth (3-0) and 3-1 to NEO.

The weekend started off slow for Highland as they lost the first two sets against Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College. They took the third set from the Norseman but could not hang on the fourth set. The team came back to fight in their match against Southwestern and swept them 3-0.
Saturday morning's match against MCC-Longview woke both teams up quick as the battle between the two teams never let down in front of a large crowd. Two of the five sets went past the regular set points but the Scotties prevailed over the Lakers. The final game of the weekend went in favor of the Scotties over Ellsworth.

The sophomores for the Scotties led the team this weekend. Zealia Kleitz and Leslie Polanco both on top offensively with 45 kills apiece with Emma Cohalla right behing with 39. Cohalla stayed constent with her high hitting percentage on the weekend with a .294. Polanco came up with 76 digs on all four games with freshman Johnson and Pearson both with 54 and 46. Koie Orozco had a team high of 14 blocks and Pearson with an outstanding total of 160 set assists.

Head Coach Jon Bingesser shared his comments on the weekend, "Overall I am satisfied with the outcome of this weekend. I know we would love to have that NEO game back, but we learn and move on. I think we did a good job in the rest of the matches. I was very impressed with Katie's decision making skills and she ran the offense I was expecting. She totaled 160 assists this weekend with 61 coming in the victory over Longview. Our middles had a consistent weekend as well, especially during the Longview match. Longview had really keyed in defensively on Zealia and it slowed us down for a bit. Emma was able to step up and earn those kills that were really needed. I think the way we finished the weekend is just what we need going into our first conference match on Wednesday."

Highland CC (7-2) will host Independence CC (0-3) on Wednesday, September 6th at 5:30 PM in the Ben Allen Field House.

GAME RESULTS:
Match One: Highland vs. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College 1-3 (13-25, 23-25, 25-12, 20-25)

Kleitz started her weekend off on a high note with a double- double, 15 kills and 10 digs along with career high seven blocks and two aces. Polanco led her team in digs with 16 and put down seven kills, Cohalla one kill more than Polanco with eight. Pearson continued to stay reliable dishing out 31 assists and nine digs. The team had 16 total blocks on the set loss to NEO.

Match Two: Highland vs. Southwestern CC 3-0 (25-12, 25-12, 25-19)

The team surpassed all columns over the Spartans in the three set match. Highland led offensively with 33 kills to the Spartans 18 with a hitting percentage different of .237 to .110. Leslie Polanco led the team in digs with 13 with Pearson right behind her with nine including 25 set assists. The team had a total of 15 blocks; Cohalla with three solo. 

Match Three: Highland vs. MCC Lonview 3-2 (28-26, 22-25, 25-23, 19-25, 16-14)

With a big five set match came big numbers for the Scotties. Emma Cohalla came out on fire with career highs in kills with 20 hitting a .543 adding five blocks. Johnson had another career high game in digs with 29. There were three girls that contributed double-doubles, Orozco (11 kills, 10 digs) Polanco (17 kills, 29 digs), and Wagner (13 kills, 14 digs). Pearson more than doubled her career high in set assists with 61 and also came up with 15 of the teams 101 total digs.
 
Match Four: Highland vs. Ellsworth 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-18)

Polanco and Pearson both came out with double-doubles in the quick three set match against Ellsworth. Pearson had a career high of 43 set assists and had 13 defensive digs. Polanco had the team high in digs with 18 and put down 13 kills along with four set assists. Kleitz led yet again on offense with 16 kills hitting a .464. Wagner and Orozco added to the teams kills with seven apiece both also with 10 and 13 digs respectively. The team outshined Ellsworth on the offensive end; Highland with 51 kills hitting a .264 hitting percentage to Ellsworth's 30 and a .142 hitting percentage.