Hawthorne Volleyball Loses to Saint Francis in Sweep
Saint Francis volleyball swept past visiting Hawthorne 3-0 (25-7, 25-17, 25-15) Thursday night to improve to 10-9.
Outside-hitter Makenzie Swilley scored Hawthorne’s first and only kill of the first set, but Saint Francis led 13-4.
While the Hornets (4-13) accumulated a lot of digs, their serve-receive defense had trouble putting the ball into setter Raegan Lee’s hands.
Saint Francis proceeded to score 10 consecutive points before making an error.
When Hawthorne got the ball back, Swilley responded with an ace, but it trailed 23-6.
The Wolves received the ball on the next point and finished the set 25-7.
The Hornets cleaned things up in the second set, but it wasn’t enough in losing it 25-17.
“Sometimes it takes them a second to get in the groove, but we got there,” Hawthorne coach Vanessa Gillman said. “As you can tell, we do play better than what our first set led to be.”
Raylen Cue, in the middle blocker position, made consecutive blocks to bring Hawthorne within 8-6 of Saint Francis. Then Swilley scored her second ace to tie the set 8-8.
Immediately following, outside Rylee Triplett landed a kill to put Hawthorne on top 9-8.
But Saint Francis took advantage of Hawthorne errors to move ahead 22-17, and after a Hornets timeout, the Hornets made three more serve-receive errors to end the set 25-17.
Swilley’s second kill of the night gave Hawthorne a 3-0 lead to start Set 3. After mistakes on both sides, Swilley collected another ace to put Hawthorne up 10-9.
Later, middle hitter Kaylee Stevens nailed a kill for the Hornets to tie the set 12-12.
“I love to have my girls encourage everybody,” Stevens said. “Especially when you get something that big and especially against a good team like this. It’s so phenomenal to feel.”
Stevens scored again with a block later in the set to cut the Saint Francis lead to 15-13.
Taking the opportunity with possession, Triplett scored an ace to close the deficit to 15-14.
But Saint Francis found a rhythm to close out the set 25-15 to improve to 7-0 against the Hornets since 2023.
Despite the outcome, the Hornets have shown improvement since last season.
Hawthorne did not win a match last season, finishing with a 0-24 record. Hawthorne failed to push a team to five sets that season.
The Hornets finished last in the Rural Four District at 0-4. This season, they are 2-2 and third of six teams.
A win may not be far out of reach, as Hawthorne’s program is rebuilding.
For one, the team has been switched out of 1A-District to Rural District 7. Saint Francis is up a level in 1A-District 4.
But the Hornets’ schedule has become more difficult. They will play 20 regular-season matches and have faced more competitive teams. Teams that have been added since 2023 include Keystone Heights (14-8), Interlachen (8-8) and P.K. Yonge (9-7).
Gillman said the team’s improvement stems from the work the girls have started putting in outside of the season.
Libero Holly Moore, Cue and Triplett played for Azalea Volleyball Club last offseason. Moore and Triplett also played for Azalea’s beach volleyball team. Rightside and setter Reagan Lee played with RADD Volleyball club.
Moore, a sophomore, averages 5.5 digs per set compared to last season’s 1.9. The difference is clear.
“Obviously, every team wants to win all the games,” Gillman said, “so hopefully we can rack in some wins. But from last year to this year, the improvement is all around. Even just the girls this year. They’re trying harder. They’re pushing themselves. They’re all around just doing way better.”
Hawthorne begins a three-match week at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Interlachen and closes the regular season against visiting Eastside at 7 p.m. Wednesday and at P.K. Yonge at 7 p.m. Thursday. The district tournament begins the following week.
Category: Hawthorne High School, High School Sports
