NEW LISBON — On a wicked hot, humid night Hillsboro fought through wilting temperatures and slippery playing conditions to down host New Lisbon in the Scenic Bluffs opener for both teams last Tuesday night.

Junior Tasha Mitchell overcame a slow start and finished with a team-high 16 kills and 16 digs to power the Tigers to a 25–20, 25–19, 15–25, 25–22 victory.

Fellow junior April Thornsen played a huge role in the win for Hillsboro finishing the night with four aces.

Junior Mackenzie Sullivan added 13 kills, 13 digs, 11 assists and three aces.

“It was very hot, humid and slippery,” said Hillsboro head coach Mark Sullivan. “The key to the match was sticking with it even with having a lot of errors. We didn’t lose our poise when we went through bad stretches.

Hillsboro tallied a .275 hitting percentage, but overcame an off hitting night 17 service aces and scrappy defense.

“We were able to keep balls alive pretty well and force New Lisbon into some errors of their own,” said Sullivan. “It was a tough match to gauge how we are doing due to the weather and conditions.  We are just glad to get through it with a win.”

Junior libero Brittany Borchardt had an up and down match, but had the ball in her hands a lot with 25 successful serve reception attempts and 24 digs.

Freshman Courtney Fanta passed out 14 assists.

“We got the win, which is the ultimate goal, but have a lot of work to do to clean up our game,” added Sullivan. “Anybody can beat anybody on a given day in this conference this year. I’m proud of the girls effort, but we need more consistency as time goes on.”

Hillsboro (3–5, 1–0 SBC) traveled to Necedah on Tuesday and will face both Cashton and Brookwood Thursday night at  the Cashton SBC quadrangular. Saturday the Tigers will participate in the Holmen Invitational.