NEW LISBON — From the opening serve of last Tuesday’s SBC match at New Lisbon, visiting Hillsboro dominated.

The Tigers built a big early lead in the opening set and cruised to a straight sets victory 25–7, 25–13, 25–18.

Sophomore middle hitter Tasha Mitchell had nine kills and two blocks to lead the team.  Fellow sophomore Mackenzie Sullivan added six kills, 10 assists, six aces and five 10.

Sophomore libero Brittany Borchardt made a team-high 23 digs and had two aces.

“We played a strong match and took control early,” said Hillsboro head coach Mark Sullivan. “We had an excellent serving night with 16 aces and only had five serve reception errors on defense.”

Two nights later, Hillsboro swept Cashton in a very close 25–20, 25–21, 25–20 final to claim the Scenic Bluffs Conference title for the fourth consecutive season.

The Tigers improved to 20–9–1 overall and 11–1 in the SBC, three games ahead of both Wonewoc–Center (8–4) and Bangor (8–4).

“We won in three, but Cashton had leads in first two games of several points,” explained Sullivan. “I was proud we were able to stay poised and pull through all three games.

“We had to grind it out as we were not particularly sharp. But we had a balanced attack with 32 kills from seven total players.  We also reached one of our goals of winning the conference championship outright.”

Mitchell led the Tigers' balanced attack with nine kills and four aces. Sami Levy added six kills and four blocks.

Hillsboro hosted Bangor for Parents’ Night on Tuesday and will host Royall for Senior Night tonight to close out the regular season.

The Tigers will then begin the WIAA Division 4 playoffs, most likely with a home match, Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against a yet to be determined opponent.

The Tigers’ regional seeding meeting was scheduled for Wednesday night, well after the Sentry Enterprise’s print deadline.