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Holcomb Hornets celebrate Senior Night with a win over Malden
HOLCOMB, Mo. - After 32 complete games, the Holcomb Hornets have reached the end of the line for their regular season.
Fortunately, their season ended with a 3-0 victory over the Malden Green Wave. However, this was potentially the last time Holcomb’s seniors had the opportunity to defend their home court.
“It’s kind of bittersweet,” Holcomb senior Choe Hendrix said. “It was a good win, but it was also my last game on this floor so it was really sad.”
Holcomb’s head coach Matt Casper recognized the importance of this last home game. He acknowledged the work his seniors have put in at this gym for the past four years.
He wanted to make sure the seniors remembered this moment.
“Senior night is always exciting,” Casper said. “Just a lot of emotion for the kids and parents. I graduated from here too, and I still remember my last basketball game and I stayed in that locker room for a long time before I left, just thinking about all the time I had on this court. It’s always emotional and it means a lot. That was four years of work for them.”
It was a hard fought match against the Green Wave. Ultimately, Holcomb pulled away in all three sets winning 25-13, 25-9 and 25-19.
Malden junior Hestania Jackson led the Green Wave with five kills. Jackson, along with senior Mikalyn Vipperman, also had two aces which helped Malden out from the service line. Vipperman also had two kills of her own coming in the third set.
Sophomore Carsyn Cohen added three kills and led her team with seven blocks.
Along with these Malden players being the main hitters, they were set up by junior Khyrie Mathies who had seven assists.
Despite their efforts, the Hornets were able to walk away with a win on their senior night.
At the conclusion of their regular season, the Hornets now prepare for the postseason as the number one ranked team in their Class1 District 1 assignment.
Hendrix has been the driving force for the Hornets this season. She leads her teams in three categories including total kills. She has put down 256 kills this season alone while averaging 2.9 kills per set. This has accomplished this while averaging 3.2 digs per set.
While being the main offensive threat for the Hornets, she also leads her squad defensively with 284 digs this season. Her total kills and total digs are the most in Holcomb’s Class 1 District 1 assignment this season. Her teammates Ava Gurley and Ella Lemings trail right behind with the second and third most digs in the district. Gurley has 207 digs while Lemings picked 205 digs this season.
Fellow senior Gabi Harmon is also ranked first in the district as the main serving threat for Holcomb with 42 aces this season.
Along with those two seniors leading the way for Holcomb this season, Gurley has made her mark as one of the top setters in all of Class 1. She is ranked in the top 15 with 596 total assists this season.
Landynn Hodges, a junior, is the best defender at the net this season for Class 1 District 1. She leads the district with 46 total blocks. She is also ranked second in the district behind Hendrix with 229 kills this season.
With 21 victories in the win column, the Hornets have matched their record from last season already before starting postseason. Last season, Holcomb became back-to-back District champions and earned a bid to state. As the number one seed, the team will look to 3-peat and make a longer run in the Class 1 State Tournament.
The Class 1 District 1 tournament will start on Friday. Oct. 25. However, since Holcomb has a bye as the number one seed, their first game of the tournament will be on Monday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. The championship match will be on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. Each match will be played at Delta C-7 High School in Deering, Mo.
For Malden, their first game of their Class 2 District 1 tournament will also be on the 28th as they get a bye with a number two seed ranking. The Class 2 District 1 tournament will be held at Malden High School.