After a tough road loss earlier in the weekend in KJCCC play the Scotties took to the court again on Friday and Saturday and were in action in front of the home crowd for the first time this season as they hosted the HCC Tournament with nine teams in competition.

Looking to get back on a roll the Scotties did just that going 4-0 in the tournament rolling past their first three opponents in straight sets and winning the final tournament match in four sets, losing only one set all tournament.

Scotties got rolling early in the tourney as they took on Southwestern CC in their first match and picked up the 3-0 win (25-11, 25-9, 25-19). Highland mounted a 5-1 start to set one and behind the serving of Katie Pearson, a big kill from Lee Sexton and pair of stuff blocks by Hannah Williams established a 18-8 lead in set one cruising to the set win. Set two was much of the same as the Scotties put together a big run spear headed by Cajia Allen serving up multiple aces in the set and finishing with six aces in the match. Set three was a bit tighter and even tied at 15-15 but the Scotties took control and finished the match in three sets.

Next up on Friday Highland took on the #9 ranked team in the country Iowa Central who had just one loss on the season that being to Coffeyville earlier in the day. After a tight battle through set one the Scotties went on a 5-0 run to lead 18-13 forcing an Iowa Central timeout and the Highland used that cushion to ultimately take the set. Scotties fell down early in set two but worked the set to a 15-15 tie and then took the lead pushing to the set win. Highland jumped out to a 15-7 advantage in set three and used the strong start to take down a ranked foe for the second time this season winning in straight sets against Iowa Central.

After a 2-0 day on Friday the Scotties took the court on Saturday set to play Ellsworth and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. After Ellsworth held a lead early in set one the Scotties took it back and cruised to the win with Hannah Williams providing the exclamation point kill at the end of the first set. Early runs in set two set the tone for the Scotties to take early control against Ellsworth and just like set one the set was finished emphatically this time with an Allen kill. Set three was tight to the wire with Highland owning the lead most of the way and holding off Ellsworth for the set and match.

The final matchup of the tournament the Scotties squared off with a team that beat them at their home tournament last year and a team that was also 3-0 in the HCC Tournament this year going into the match as the Scotties faced #14 ranked Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. A Sexton kill got the Scotties on the board first to open the match and the cushion continued to grow with Highland ultimately grabbing set one. Set two NEO held early leads but the Scotties put together a 4-0 run to tie the set at 18-18 and then took the lead and fended off NEO down the stretch for the set. After a 5-1 start to set three Highland saw NEO battle back to take the lead and hold off the Scotties to force a fourth set. In the fourth set the Scotties settled back in taking early control and pushing the lead to 10 at 14-4 and went on to snatch the win to finish the Tournament 4-0.

Head Coach Jon Bingesser was pretty satisfied with the team's performance over the weekend, "I thought the girls played great this weekend.  We are a very balanced team and that showed throughout the tournament, especially in the two big wins over Iowa Central and NEO. Katie did a nice job of running our offense, as she established certain hitters early in sets and then was able to mix it up accordingly as the matches went on.  We've got a few little things to work on, but still an impressive weekend for us!"

Scotties get back into KJCCC play in their next competition as they host Johnson County on Wednesday, September 5th at 5:30pm at Ben Allen Fieldhouse.

Game Results:

Match One: Highland won 3-0 vs Southwestern CC (25-11, 25-9, 25-19)

In the first match of the Tournament balance was on display for the Scottie offense as five different players recorded five or more kills in the contest. Cajia Allen finished with a nine kill performance and added great serving with six aces, while leading the team in digs in the match with 12. Lee Sexton tallied a nine kill match, while Hannah Williams finished with seven kills. Katie Pearson had 33 set assists as the Scotties had 40 kills in the match, while Myla Turner posted 11 digs.

Match Two: Highland won 3-0 vs Iowa Central (25-21, 25-21, 25-18)

Scotties in the win over ninth ranked Iowa Central got a monstrous defense match from Myla Turner who as the Libero flew all over the floor recording 26 digs in the contest. Cajia Allen recorded a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs, while Emma Cohalla matched Allen in kills with 12. Lee Sexton tallied 10 kills and Hannah Wagner posted nine kills. Both Kirsten Johnson and Katie Pearson each had nine digs in the win, while Pearson finished with 37 assists.

Match Three: Highland won 3-0 vs Ellsworth (25-16, 25-15, 26-24)

Highland won their third straight match in three sets by beating Ellsworth and the playmaking ability of several Scotties was once again on display. Emma Cohalla tallied 13 kills, while adding two aces, a dig and two assists to help lead the charge. Cajia Allen finished with 13 kills, while Abby Williams chipped in six kills. Myla Turner notched 13 digs for the Scotties, while at setter Katie Pearson did a bit of everything finishing with 32 assists and added a kill, two aces, four digs and a solo block.

Match Four: Highland won 3-1 vs NEO (25-17, 25-22, 23-25, 25-18)

Four ladies finished with double figure kills in the four set win over #14 ranked NEO with Lee Sexton pacing the way with her best performance as a Scottie posting 18 kills. Emma Cohalla 14 kills and a pair of solo blocks, while Cajia Allen had 14 kills and 10 digs in the win. Hannah Wagner had her three double figure kill performance of the season finishing with 10, while Myla Turner led the defense again with 17 digs. Amber Hildebrand tallied 14 digs and Katie Pearson had 16 digs along with her 48 assists in the match.