Hobaugh helps Creek get elusive victory over rival

LEAGUE CITY — Rachel Hobaugh did not want to lose to Friendswood.

Not again, for the third time in her career. Not as a senior. Not to one of the Lady Wildcats’ oldest rivals, a fierce competition that Clear Creek coach Scott Simonds appropriately calls the Battle of Galveston County.

So Hobaugh, Creek’s only third-year letterman, put the Lady Wildcats on her back. She refused to lose. She set the tempo and finally earned her first win over Friendswood as Creek beat the Lady Mustangs convincingly, 25-13, 25-20, 22-25 and 25-20, Tuesday.

“This one meant a lot,” Hobaugh said. “After last year when we got swept in straight sets, I finally wanted to beat Friendswood. For once.”

She did. And she almost took the first game single-handedly.

Hobaugh started Creek (11-5) off to a 6-0 lead thanks to her devastating jump serve. Though she only got one ace, Friendswood (6-4) struggled to get in its offense because it could not handle Hobaugh’s serve.

Hobaugh then went on to get nine of her 18 kills in Game 1. Six came during a Lady Wildcats 9-2 run that put the game away.

Her dominance led Friendswood coach Jerry Linch to ask if anyone on his team was going to bother to stop Hobaugh.

“Rachel was fired up,” Simonds said. “She’s important to us. And we depend on her, so anytime she’s playing like that, it’s going to help us.”

Friendswood played better in Game 2, after a fiery speech by Linch. But the Lady Mustangs’ defense still played a step slow, letting Hobaugh and Ashley Smith, who also had 18 kills, have their way.

Unforced errors played a major role, too. Friendswood committed nine in the game, including three in a row that led to Creek’s 7-0 run to put the game away. In all, Friendswood committed 33 unforced errors.

“We struggled with simple balls and simple defense,” Linch said. “We’re better than that.”

Friendswood responded with a Game 3 win. Outside hitters Jill Bergeson and Shawna Spozio finally got going. Ten Creek errors also helped, as the Lady Wildcats committed just 17 all night.

Bergeson finished with 15 kills and five blocks. Jasmine Casey had 13 kills and 20 digs while Spozio ended up with 10 kills. Harley Kelley added five blocks.

“We got a little sloppy that game and Friends-wood’s offense got better,” Simonds said.

But Creek returned to form in Game 4, where Smith did most of her damage. She recorded three kills in a row at one point to build an eight-point lead. Smith, along with Hobaugh and Ellen Shoemaker (eight kills), got a lot of help from Courtney Richardson (44 assists).

Natalie Piznar, who also played outstanding defense with 25 digs, had two of her four aces in the final game.

It ended a disappointing effort for Friendswood, especially in a rivalry game where it didn’t show much energy. The Lady Mustangs also were coming off a weekend where it beat two ranked opponents and a pair of 5A schools.

“We can beat teams like this,” Linch said. “We just did. But I guess this is what happens with a young team that’s coming together after losing three starters to start the year.”

For Creek, it meant another impressive victory — in a short amount of time. The Lady Wildcats have played 16 matches in 14 days.

And perhaps none was more important than Friendswood, a rival Creek and Hobaugh have struggled to beat.

“It’s good to get a win the last year,” Hobaugh said. “It’s a lot better than losing. I’m just happy it finally happened.”