The varsity volleyball team defeated cross-town rivals Eastern Mennonite High School in four sets on Tuesday, Sept. 1. Having won the first and lost the second set, the girls found themselves behind by seven points with EMHS needing just one point to win the third set. HHS Head Coach Andy Thompson called a timeout, which senior Sophie Hartman believes was the turning point in the set that led to their 26-24 comeback win.

“We were getting down on ourselves a lot during that [set], so basically we knew how we could play and we played so much more intensely and agresively against Sherando and Woodgrove, so knowing our capabilities we just brought that up and tried to have more fun with everything,” Hartman said.

Hartman credits junior Jessica Denton with picking up the team and leading them to the comeback.

“That was the set Jessica Denton had- I don’t even know how many serves in a row- but she led the team with her energy, she came out and pumped everyone up and everyone got excited and everyone’s energy came back and we were able to keep that streak going,” Hartman said.

Hartman, who captains the team alongside junior Athena Benton, found the momentum and energy to push them to win the fourth set, winning them the match.

“I think we were able to maintain [our energy] knowing what we were capable of, coming back seven points to win. I don’t know if our energy intimidated the other team or shut them down a little bit or scared them, because it was a little excessive. It was just fun, we were able to not worry about whether we win or lose. Just able to play loosely and get it done,” Hartman said.

With their first win of the season behind them, the team hopes that both the victory and experience playing against other teams in their conference will push them towards cotiniued success in the regular season.

“It’s pretty nice playing against Sherando and Woodgrove knowing how amazing they are. It was definitely a little nerve racking, because that’s our conference. But now we know our potential and it made us a lot stronger playing them first because one, we know how they play, and two, it was able to get us in the mindset that we know what we need to work on in playing against them and know other teams are going to be as good as them in the district,” Hartman said, “So [the win] could help us with our record, because we have a very fast and efficient defense, and with that is how you get the plays. We’re excited, we’re looking forward to [the new conference], so this first one was definitely a good starting point.”

The Streaks hope for consecutive victories as they host James Wood in their next match of the season on Sept. 8.