By Erik Harris
TRUSSVILLE – It was a slow start that led to a fast finish for Hewitt-Trussville on Tuesday night in Bryant Bank Arena.
The Huskies (1-1) dropped the opening set of the night to Class 6A Briarwood Christian 25-21, but bounced back with three straight wins to claim the best-of-five series. The home team won 26-24, 25-20 and 25-23 to find its first win of the young season.
“It’s good to get a win,” head coach Katie Riggins said. “You’ve got to get that first win under your belt. Their confidence should be a little higher, but we’ll see on Thursday.”
Hewitt-Trussville visits Class 6A Homewood on Thursday night, and one player that won’t be lacking confidence in the road environment will be Rhianna Tyldesley.
The junior shined in her team’s first win, going for a team-high 11 kills, seven aces and four blocks. She also tied Brianna Hampton and Megan Edwards with ten digs.
One of Tyldesley’s seven aces came at the most opportune time, finalizing Set 2 and marking the beginning of a major momentum swing. Riggins likes the relaxed approach her junior brought to the floor on Tuesday night.
“(Tyldesley) was having fun today. She wasn’t stressing. Nothing was in her head. She was shaking everything off, so she did great,” Riggins said.
The third set of the evening was brought to an end by one of Charyse Swann’s seven kills. That spike ended a subtle Lions’ comeback.
For the Huskies, Josie Lyster recorded eight kills for the night. Kaitlyn McDanial scooped up eight digs and added a kill of her own. Along with Edwards’ ten digs, she also pitched in for three kills, two blocks and a team-high 27 assists.
Follow Erik Harris on Twitter @jeharris2.