Volleyball: Hazen beats Renton for second straight year

New year, same Hazen volleyball. The Highlanders got out to a quick start in a swift three set victory Sept. 9 over cross-town rival, Renton High School.

For the second straight year, Hazen High School has made quick work of the Redhawks. In their last two matchups, Hazen hasn’t dropped a set against Renton. Just getting the preseason jitters out of the way helped Hazen’s staff see what they do well and improve on.

“It was really good. We were able to see our strengths and weaknesses. We lost a lot of seniors last year and are filling in a lot of gaps (this year). It was fun to see where we can make it up and play as a team,” said Head Coach Sydney Fuller.

A team that had seven seniors last year has six this season, and all of the seniors play a big role on this Highlander team.

“A lot of them have come so far just from what I have seen last year. This year is going to have a lot of growth from them, even if it is their last season,” Fuller said.

From the jump, Hazen looked like the better side. In the first set, Hazen was victorious 25-11, and it was clear that the Highlanders were a level above the Redhawks.

Second set saw an even larger margin of victory with senior Sienna German leading the charge at the service line. The Highlanders got out to a 6-1 lead early and then never looked back. The second set got as close as 9-2 before German was sent to serve. She started serving at 17-5 and went all the way to 24-5 before Renton recorded a point.

“It feels good. Coming in, there is always stress if you’re going to do good, how are the blocks and hits going to look. It adds a lot of confidence going into the season,” German said.

German put in extra time to better her serve, and her coach was happy to see that work show itself in game one.

“Her serving is always crazy. It is so powerful… This year she really worked on maintaining a controlled serve that we can use a lot in games,” Fuller said.

The senior took it upon herself to improve on her serving, a place that wasn’t her strength in the past.

“I’m a person if there is a weak point in my game, I work so hard on it. Seeing it (serves) go in adds so much confidence, but also feels so good,” said German.

Arisa May-Kelly is just a junior, but showed a bit of her potential against the Redhawks. She is a captain this year, and according to her coach, the sky is the limit for May-Kelly.

“She’s great. She has improved so much from last year,” said Fuller. “She has already stepped up so much this year. This year she is a captain and she has been working really hard with the team. She is preparing for that senior role, a year in advance.”

May-Kelly’s teammates also have noticed her improvement.

“I love Arisa. Every time I see the ball going to her, I know it is going down. It is one of those things where I can trust her and she is such a good teammate,” German said.

Set three was more of the same for the Highlanders as they turned their eyes to Edmonds Woodway, who come to town on Sept. 11. The Warriors were a game shy of the state tournament a year ago and will be a good test for Hazen to see where they fit against a different type of competition.

“It is going to be great. In this we can find our strengths and weaknesses, but in a game like that, how can we fight in situations where we are not necessarily the strongest,” Fuller said.

As a senior, this is German’s first test of her final campaign, and she couldn’t be more excited for the challenge ahead.

“I love competition and have since I was two years old. Any people that challenge me, I’ll rise to it. I am really excited to play them,” German said.