Huntington ends regular season on high note with win over Grace

WINONA LAKE, Ind. – The Huntington volleyball team got the job done Saturday afternoon at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center by disposing of Grace in four (25-13, 23-25, 25-20, 25-21). With this win, the Foresters wrap up the regular season and complete the sweep over the Lancers. HU won 3-2 in the first outing against Grace in late September.

HU's record stands at 15-17 overall which includes an 8-10 record in league play for the sixth seed headed into the conference tournament. As the sixth seed, Herber and crew will face 3rd-seeded Marian in first round action. The Foresters swept Marian, ranked 17th nationally at the time, a few weeks back while the Knights enjoyed a 3-0 win over HU the first time these two teams played on September 16.

De'Janea Johnson had herself a day against the Maple Leafs. She went off for a career-best 18 kills. Kortney Grimm added nine, Tya Bynum and Haley Kruse each chipped in six kills while Leah Carter finished with five as the support cast to Johnson's big numbers.

Coach Kelsey Herber loved the play of her senior outside hitter. "De'Janea was an effective scorer for us in all aspects today by swinging away, hitting shots, getting overpass kills and tooling the block."

Morgan Robrock ran the offense by dishing out 34 assists. She also did her part defensively by picking up 14 digs. Layla Meyer was the key cog defensively having logged a match-best 26 digs.

"I'm proud of the teammates we were today," said Herber. "We executed our game plan well and intentionally played as one team rather than a group of individuals.

"We are going to spend this next week getting hungry to take on Marian at their place in the opening round of our conference tournament. We have one more week to get better and peak at the right time for a strong finish to our season."

The Foresters will square off with Marian in the CL tourney on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 17 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 125 NAIA All-America honors and 449 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Reportranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.