By DREW GRANTHUM/Sports Editor

HELENA — The Helena High Huskies volleyball squad held its first home game in program history on Sept. 4. The Huskies played host to the Spain Park Jaguars, and while the home crowd was a strong one, the Huskies fell to the Jags, three sets to one.

The first set of the match proved to be a close one, as the Jags took a 25-23 win.

In the second set, once again Spain Park got the upper hand. After opening up with a 15-9 run, the Jags turned up the offense to go on a 10-1 run to take a 25-10 win.

The third set, however, was when the Husky offense began to come alive. The squad opened on a 4-1 run to the early lead, but the Jags countered with a 6-2 run to tie. The two squads swapped the lead three times before Helena took a 9-8 lead, opening up a 12-9 lead on a 3-1 run.  The Huskies increased the lead to 16-11, before the Jags countered with a 5-0 swing.

Spain Park took the lead at 17-16, and the two squads battled back and forth until Helena gained the lead at 19-18. The Huskies never looked back, closing out the third set with a 25-21 win.

Spain Park jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set, getting up 5-1 on the huskies to begin. Helena closed the gap to 7-5, but Spain Park scooted away for a 13-9 lead.

Up 17-14, the Jags used a 8-2 run down the stretch to seal a 25-16 final set win to net the match victory.

The Jags were paced by Lauren Arndt with 10 kills, Mattie Williams with eight kills, while Anna Marie Renta had seven digs. Jordan Nakayama had seven aces and 27 assists.

For the Huskies, Meghan Sullivan had 27 digs, while Artasia DeBose and Emily Gustafson registered six kills apiece. DeBose also had four aces and five blocks. Samantha Sheets had seven blocks in the contest.

The Jags move on to face Mountain Brook Sept. 11, while Helena takes on Jemison on the same date.