South Hamilton hitter Zoey Duns (6) smiles as she and teammate Paige Evans prepare to move on the serve during Tuesday’s triangular against Southeast Valley and Eagle Grove in Jewell. DFJ photo/Angela Hewitt

JEWELL –Just 24 hours removed from a tough start to the volleyball season, South Hamilton stepped onto its home court and erased some of the disappointment Tuesday night.

Following an 0-3 performance at Monday’s Roland-Story quad, the Hawks showed improvement in all areas of the game en route to 2-0 victories over Southeast Valley and Eagle Grove.

And, yes, it’s exactly what head coach Kayla Schaufenbuel wanted to see.

“Starting the season 0-3 is definitely not how you want to start, so coming back the next day, playing hard and getting two wins is what the girls needed,” Schaufenbuel said. “Everything was working. We had energy and we just put all of the pieces of the puzzle together.”

South Hamilton (2-3) fended off Southeast Valley in the opening set and then rolled in set No. 2 for a 25-23, 25-18 win. The Hawks ripped 15 kills in the match, keyed by senior middle Caleigh Hewitt with four and junior Kate Barkema with three on the perimeter. Seven different players had at least one kill.

“The two biggest improvements were with our serve receive and our hitting efficiency,” Schaufenbuel said. “When your passes are on, our sets can be on and that gives our girls in the front row a chance to score.”

Taylor Remsburg and Miranda Deppe had seven digs each in the match. Zoey Duns collected five more.

South Hamilton cranked out eight service aces in a 25-7, 25-14 rout of Eagle Grove. Duns and Hewitt combined for five of the service winners.

Mackenzy Grady laced four kills and Hewitt added three more against the Eagles. Deppe again paced the defense with six digs, one more than Duns.

South Hamilton will be back at home this evening for another non-conference triangular with Colo-NESCO and Madrid starting at 5 p.m. The Hawks will head to Clarion for a tournament on Saturday.

Tuesday at Jewell

South Hamilton Statistics

(2 matches combined)

Attacks — Mackenzy Grady 11-14, 6 kills; Hallee Feaker 11-15, 2 kills; Kate Barkema 9-11, 5 kills; Paige Evans 3-3, 1 kill; Caleigh Hewitt 18-22, 7 kills; Taylor Remsburg 10-14, 3 kills; Zoey Duns 17-22, 3 kills; Miranda Deppe 2-2, 1 kill; Trista Strohman 1-1.

Blocks — Barkema 2, Hewitt 2.

Assists — Strohman 11, Evans 9, Barkema 3, Remsburg 1.

Digs — Grady 2, Feaker 4, Evans 4, Barkema 1, Hewitt 3, Remsburg 9, Duns 10, Deppe 13, Strohman 5.

Serving — Feaker 10-11, 2 aces; Evans 15-16, 2 aces; Hewitt 16-16, 4 aces; Remsburg 4-6; Duns 13-15, 4 aces; Deppe 8-8, 1 ace; Strohman 16-17, 1 ace; Kailyn Northrop 6-6, 1 ace.