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By CHRIS DOBROWOLSKI

News Sports Editor

HALE - Hillman is doing its best to turn the Class D volleyball district at Hale upside down.

After knocking off Atlanta on Monday, the Tigers pulled off an upset of much larger proportions on Wednesday, defeating two-time North Star League champion Posen 3-1 to advance to Friday's championship match.

The Tigers dropped the first game of the match 25-20, but took the next three in succession, 25-20, 25-23 and 25-21.

"Overall, the girls pulled everything they learned this season and brought it to tonight's games," said Hillman coach Erin Fleming. "They played smart and they had to come with a team effort."

Posen, the defending district champion, had not lost to a North Star League team all season, and had only suffered one loss in the league in the past two years, but the Vikings had no answer for the Tigers' inspired play.

"I'm disappointed we lost, but I couldn't ask for more out of my team," said Posen coach John Dietlin. "Hillman played a good game. They took advantage of our weaknesses."

Hillman capitalized on an unusally poor night of serving by the Vikings, and it got a stellar performance from its back row, which stepped up with big-time defensive play.

"They came on strong and covered a lot of their shoots and tips," said Fleming. "It seemed like once they got down they were trying to shoot a lot and, to me, that's a free ball."

The Tigers' victory was even more impressive considering they closed out the win in a close third game, then won the last game without middle hitter Courtney Jones, who led Hillman at the net with nine kills and five blocks. Jones also came up with nine digs. Jones left the third game after injuring her hand on a block attempt. She is expecting to play in Friday's district final. Sophomore Carissa Herrick came off the bench to fill in and came through with two kills, two blocks and four aces. Alissa Clink added 12 assists and five kills to Hillman's cause.

Hillman showed right from the start it was going to give the Vikings all they could handle. The two teams were tied 19-19 in the first game before Posen came away with the win. The second game was just as close before the Tigers pulled out the victory. That win gave the Tigers a huge boost of momentum that carried over to the third game, where they scored the first five points.

Posen eventually caught Hillman, tying the game 20-20, then took a 21-20 lead moments later on an ace by Cheryl Romel. From there the two teams exchanged runs. Hillman scored four straight to go back ahead, 24-21, but Posen answered with two straight points of its own to get within one, 24-23, before Hillman closed out the win - all without Jones on the floor.

Posen seemed to regain its poise in the fourth game as the Vikings led by as many as nine points in the early going. Hillman slowly chipped away at that lead, going ahead for good 21-20, then outscoring the Vikings 4-1 down the stretch.

"They would have a missed serve, or a missed attack, and that would give us a little bit of relief. It was like, 'OK, let's get this back,'" said Fleming. "The errors they made came at the perfect times. It allowed us to climb the ladder."

Leanne Buczkowski led Posen with 12 kills and Janice Ciarkowski added five kills. Lindsay Ponik had 12 assists, while Romel served eight aces.

Dietlin was sure his team started to feel the pressure once it fell behind in the match.

"They were trying to get as many points as they could as quick as possible," he said. "They got out of their comfort zone.

"We just lost to a quality team. That's all there was to it."