Spartans' Uhland and twin towers bounce Biggs, eye section return

Last year, Haley Uhland had the pleasure of playing with a 6-foot-plus powerhouse.

This year, the East Nicolaus High volleyball setter is just plain spoiled — she's got two.

Uhland dished out 37 assists and five aces, and the decimating duo of Juliet Conant and Stephanie Hagins combined for 27 kills in a quick 25-11, 25-14, 25-15 win over Biggs on Thursday.

"It's a lot of fun to play with both of them," Uhland said. "It's a lot easier to run the floor with two hard hitters."

In 2008, the Spartans used the skills of Uhland and 6-foot-2 Conant to the Northern Section Division V title game. Add 6-foot-3 Stephanie Hagins to the roster and it's easy to see why Uhland is having so much fun in her junior season.

All match, the setter dished out passes to Conant, who pummeled 17 kills, and Hagins who added 10.

"Juliet's great and Stephanie can flat out hit the ball," Uhland said.

Though not as vertically imposing, Emily Toledo had a standout game statistically with 12 kills and a pair of digs.

For the Spartans (17-7 5-1), the victory was a way for their team to rebound after losing 3-1 to Mid-Valley League nemesis Hamilton on Tuesday, which dropped East Nicolaus down to second in the MVL standings.

"Tonight was nice to get back into the rhythm and build the girls' confidence," said Spartans co-head coach Christopher Abruscato.

It didn't take long for the Spartans to show Biggs (2-17-1, 0-5) why they are one of the top teams in the section. In the first two games, the Wolverines' longest run was three points, most of which were fueled by East Nicolaus unforced errors.

In the third game, East Nicolaus actually fell behind 7-3 after making a host of mistakes and having a little trouble with the serving of Ruby Acevedo. But there was no worry on the part of the Spartans, who would slowly crawl back and take a 13-12 lead, giving way to a 12-3 run to win the game.

"I (wasn't) really worried about it," Abruscato said. "I knew the girls could pull it out themselves."

In the junior varsity game, East Nicolaus scored seven unanswered points in the third game to escape with a 25-22, 22-25, 15-13 win.

Darleen Harrin had six kills and four aces, Mikayla Rolufs added three kills and three aces and Amanda Taylor tallied nine assists and three aces for the Spartans.