HHS freshmen volleyball team goes 23-0

The Highland High School freshmen volleyball team capped off a perfect season at 23-0 with a straight-set victory over the Mascoutah Indians Thursday night at HHS.

In addition to sweeping the Mississippi Valley Conference schedule at 10-0, the freshmen Lady Bulldogs won the Belleville East and Collinsville tournaments while also scoring impressive individual victories over cross-town Breese rivals, Mater Dei and Breese Central.

“They played very well and were a hard working and fun group of girls,” coach Karen Twyford said. “They show a lot of teamwork, which is great because we are really trying to build the program so they will excel in the future. They have been a great group to work with and it has been a fun season and I am really proud of them. They work hard and I am looking forward to what the varsity is going to have in the next two to three years. It’s very exciting.”

The HHS freshmen volleyball team consisted of middle hitter Anne Marie Beckemeyer, defensive specialist Angela Crews, setter/right-side hitter Audrey Habing, middle hitter Taylor Kesner, right-side hitter Lexi Korte, libero Chloe Marti, outside hitter Delaina Sigman, setter/right-side hitter Kirsten Taylor, outside hitter Olivia Wilke and setter/right-side hitter Delanie Wutzler.

Due to an arm injury to Marti, coach Twyford had to shuffle a couple of things around for the season finale against Mascoutah. One of the main moves was inserting outside hitter Bella LaPorta, who played junior varsity all season and has a very bright future in the program.

This story was originally published October 20, 2017 at 1:53 PM with the headline "HHS freshmen volleyball team goes 23-0."