Haskell volleyball swept

Young HINU falls to College of Ozarks

The losses continue to mount for the young Haskell Indian Nations University volleyball team.

Friday’s 30-12, 30-25, 30-24 loss to College of the Ozarks dropped the Fightin’ Indians’ record to 0-6.

The HINU players were backpedaling all night against one of the top teams in the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference.

“College of the Ozarks is one of the toughest teams in our conference,” Haskell coach Judith Gipp said. “They finished at the top four, I believe, last year, and this year again are in the top five.”

College of the Ozarks reeled off three straight points to start the match and didn’t loosen its grasp until halfway through the second game.

Haskell either was tied or ahead toward the end of each of the last two games, but the Indians – who field just one senior – just could not capitalize on the Bobcats’ mistakes.

“The first game we weren’t talking, we weren’t passing or serving,” freshman DeAnnethea Begay said. “But the second game, we picked it up a little, and in the third game, that’s when we picked up everything, and everything started coming together and we started communicating.”

Begay and senior Tia Semallie combined for seven of HINU’s eight service aces.

“(Begay) was a lot more aggressive, a lot more conscious of where she’s placing the ball on serves, and therefore hopefully forcing a ball-handling error on their part,” Gipp said about the freshman. “In terms of her hitting, she was just phenomenal for us tonight.”

Begay also had six of the team’s 25 kills; Semallie led Haskell with 11 kills.

“All the players worked on what they needed to individually,” Semallie said. “They did great. I’m very proud of them.”

Although HINU lost, both teams’ coaches were impressed by the Indians’ performance.

“I can really see progress they’ve made in the last year or two,” College of the Ozarks coach Don Hoeck said. “They’ve got some young kids who are really improving, and I think they’re just going to keep getting better.”