LEWISTOWN - Early leads proved to be the difference in two of the Mifflin County volleyball team's games Monday night as the home team fell 3-0 to Halifax at the Husky gym.
However, Mifflin County battled throughout, losing 25-19, 25-18, 25-15.
The Wildcats got 12 service points from Tess Keiffer and 13 from Catherine Amoriello en route to the shut out.
"Giving up a big run either in the beginning or the middle of a set is always a downfall," Mifflin County coach Matt Kern said. "We talked about playing with aggression, playing like they want to be here. There were stretches where we played well but as soon as they got down on themselves it was back to the bad habits and no emotions and when they do that they have little chance of winning."
In the first game, Halifax rolled out to a quick 5-1 lead on three consecutive service points of Amoriello, a slam by Amber Coppula and spike by Kieffer.
The Wildcats would build up a 6-1 lead before Mifflin County would notch its first service points of the night.
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r Mifflin County travels to Millersburg today
After a Halifax side out, Kaitlyn Dreese collected a service point as her offense forced a long return on a volley, making it 6-3.
However, the Wildcats put the ball in the hot hand of server Kieffer as she blasted five service points. In that run, Kieffer also notched an ace.
With the Huskies trailing 11-3, Mifflin County battled back with two consecutive service points by Sarah Bonson. In her time behind the line, Bonson blasted an ace, putting the Wildcat lead to within five at 11-6.
The two would battle evenly throughout most of the game until close to the very end.
Mifflin County rallied to pull the game to within six points before the Wildcats would tally their 25th point, en route to the 25-19 victory.
Game two was much of the same for the purple and black, falling early once again 5-0.
Leading off the game with five consecutive service points was Amoriello again.
However, the Huskies shoved back, cutting the lead to two on a side out and two service points on the jump serve of Alyssa Stackpole. Stackpole blasted her first jumper for an ace while her second point came via a returned blast to the back row by the Huskies, cutting it to 5-3.
After three consecutive side outs, Halifax built back up its lead on a service point by Kieffer. On the play, Coppula once again was strong up front as she was able to fool the Mifflin County frontline and sent one to the middle.
That would produce a scoring run of 5-1 that ended with four consecutive service points by Coppula.
Before the Huskies knew it, Halifax was back in command, 12-5.
But Mifflin County would keep it within seven points the rest of the way, making a game of it.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, they couldn't get over the hump, falling in the second game 25-18.
Things looked a little more promising for the Huskies in the final game of the night, going toe-to-toe with the Wildcats for a stretch despite falling behind once again by a large margin.
Trailing 7-1, Mifflin County rallied back to pull the game to within two at 10-8.
Coming up big for the Huskies in the run were Dreese with the first service points, followed by Maddie Barrier's three.
However, the Wildcats were too much on this night, rallying to finish things off by going on a 13-5 run to take the match.
Mifflin County travels to Millersburg today.
