The Highland Huskies dominated one set, fought their way through a second and their reserve players brought the match home as they swept the Dover Dragons, 3-0, in a Mid Hudson Athletic League Division III volleyball match on Oct. 8 at Highland High School.

“It was awesome,” senior Cadence Meltz said. “I love to see everyone get in today, and it was amazing all the energy the girls had.”

Kelcey Whalen had eight kills and three digs, while Amelia Delforno had 15 assists and two digs. Avery Sosnick had 10 assists, one dig and three aces. Annabella Bruschetti had six kills.

“I think they played good,” Highland coach Cheryl Angelone said. “I was a little disappointed in the second set, and then I called timeout, and we regrouped. But we have trouble sometimes when we don’t play teams that are better than we are. We don’t communicate and we’re not up for the game. After I called timeout, we talked about that a little bit. I think they regrouped after that and got it back together.”

On paper, the Huskies and Dragons appeared equal, and after Oct. 8’s matchup they both have six wins in the MHAL. The win lifted the Huskies into second place in the division, behind unbeaten Mount Academy.

The Huskies have already suffered a pair of 3-0 losses to Mount Academy this season, and they have an inside track to the divisional championship.

“They’re an amazing team, all around,” Meltz said.

It was also the Huskies’ second time beating the Dragons. They got off to a strong start, breaking a 4-4 tie with a long service run by Danica Valente, opening a 10-5 lead.

Then, a long service run by Amelia Delforno led the Huskies to a 23-9 lead, as the Huskies pulled out a 25-12 Set 1 victory.

The second set wasn’t as easy.

The Dragons rarely led by more than two points, but the Huskies broke a 14-14 tie with a kill, taking the lead for good after Angelone called a timeout.

“We started off a little iffy and had to get back,” Meltz said. “But we always come back, and we talked to each other, and we settled in.”

With Angelina Esposito at the service line, the Huskies opened a 20-15 win, and never led by less than four points after that, pulling out a 25-18 win.

The third set brought on the Huskies’ younger reserve players. They struggled at first, and the Dragons opened a 13-9 lead before Angelone called a timeout.

After that, some of the starters came back onto the court and Valente made a kill to cut the lead to 13-11. The Huskies fought back and tied the match at 15-15 with Keria Bishop on the service line.

“They’re all progressing throughout the whole season,” Meltz said. “It’s nice when they get to come in and we get to support them and just help them throughout the game.”

They took the lead for good on a Dover hitting error, opening a 20-16 lead on an ace by Sosnick. Then a block by Alexis Violaris opened a 22-16 lead as the Huskies went on to close the match, 25-18.

“I was really happy,” Angelone said. “My setter, Avery, scored six or seven points in a row and she’s only a freshman, so she’s not one of those girls who cracks under pressure. She played really, really well. A lot of them did. A lot of the players that don’t get out there played well in the third set.”

The Huskies finished the week on Thursday with a 3-0 road win over the Pine Plains Bombers., winning the match, 25-16, 25-23, 25-19.

Meltz had two assists, 27 digs and an ace, while Maddie Violaris had seven kills, four digs and four aces. DelForno had 14 assists, four digs and an ace, while Sosnick had 14 assists and one dig. Esposito had six kills, one dig, two aces and a block.

“We’re progressing every day,” Meltz said. “We’re working hard to get where we are right now, and from the start until now, we’ve gotten better.”