Navigators Sweep West Hernando

A year ago, Challenger K-8's vaunted middle school volleyball team cruised through the Hernando County Middle School Athletic Conference to its first-ever team title.

On Monday afternoon, however, the Navigators were hoping to solve nemesis West Hernando and remain in second place in the six-team standings in both the varsity and junior ranks.

In the varsity match that lasted 51 minutes, Challenger dispatched of last year's county runner-ups, West Hernando, 25-12, 25-20.

The win improved the Navigators to 4-1 overall, just a half game behind unbeaten Fox Chapel.

The hosts, who clicked on 42-of-49 from the service line for a match-high 86 percent, were paced by Kelcie Thomas' 11 points. Stephanie Wert and Courtney Skinner added seven markers for the defending county champs.

The Golden Eagles, who converted 27-of-33 from the service (82 percent), dipped to 3-2 overall despite a 9-for-9 effort worth nine points from Whitney Roberts. Hunter Murchio and Jules Waugh each added five markers for West Hernando.

"We had no offense tonight," lamented WHMS Head Coach Trish Engelmeier. "We weren't getting the ball to our hitters.

"On the positive side, it was a learning experience," added Engelmeier. "Now we know what we need to work on. Give them (Challenger K-8) credit, they were attacking."

Happy Birthday

From the home sideline, Navigator Head Coach Patti Martin celebrated her 39th birthday with a huge win over the school's archrival.

"We expected a much tougher match," described Martin. "We were pumped up for the first set, but mentally we letdown again in the second and they came back like usual. It seems like when this group starts to lose it, they have hard time getting it back."

Keys?

"Definitely our serving," replied Martin. "We hit 86 percent, but we usually serve better than that. And we've also got to work on our serve-receive."

What'd she get for her birthday?

"I told the girls, all I wanted tonight was a win," smiled Martin.

Completing the sweep

In the earlier junior varsity contest, Challenger needed 44 minutes to ease past West Hernando, 25-21, 27-25.

Challenger JV's also connected on 86 percent of its serves (43-of-50) led by seventh-grader Stephanie Kidd's perfect 11-for-11 effort worth a match-high 12 points. Rebecca Laing was right behind with 10 points while Erin Moynihan chipped in nine markers.

For West Hernando, which slipped to 2-3 overall, Casey Ventula led the visitors with 11 points while Aileen Hnatiuk added nine points.

Madison Whitmill, who chipped in seven points remarked on her team's win, "We were really happy to win," indicated the 11-year-old. "We were coming off a loss. They're our rivals so we all wanted to play well."

Challenger's JV skipper Karen Jones added, "Today, we worked earlier on team work and talking as a team. I like this group because they play so well together. We want to teach kids how to play volleyball the right way and prepare them for high school."

Varsity: Challenger K-8 2, West Hernando 0
1 2
West Hernando 12 20
Challenger 25 25
Records - West Hernando (3-2 overall), Challenger K-8 (4-1).

Junior Varsity: Challenger K-8 2, West Hernando 0
1 2
West Hernando 21 25
Challenger 25 27
Records - West Hernando (2-3 overall), Challenger K-8 (4-1).