During some moments of the 16-team tournament consisting of many teams from the AVCTL on Saturday at the Salthawk Activity Center, Hutchinson coach Tina Johnson said her inexperienced squad gave her some new grey hairs. Other times, they wowed her and she had goosebumps. She couldn’t believe the progress they already displayed. The latter dominated her thoughts as the Salthawks, who return only two starters from last year’s state squad and saw many players get their first taste of varsity action on Saturday, won four-out-of-six matches. Johnson said she knew her team had some skill. But how quickly they gelled together wowed her. “I just have to give my hats off to the kids because we started the day out pretty sluggish,” Johnson said. “We weren’t very effective serving. We weren’t very effective passing. They’re just going to get better with time. I think they are having fun. This team just looks like they genuinely like playing together…They came together pretty well in one day. I would have never would have thought this would happen today.” Hutchinson dropped its first match 17-25, 20-25 to Andover Central. The Salthawks rebounded and topped Maize South in three sets. Against Campus, they dropped the first game and then came back to win the subsequent two. Later, Hutchinson topped Salina South and won its fourth-straight match when it came from behind yet again in a 17-25, 25-21, 25-21 victory against Valley Center. The Salthawks later lost their final match of the day against Andover. Johnson said so many different Salthawks chipped in. Senior Logan Williams and Shae Cannon joined with junior Alison Pierce, who was playing her first varsity matches ever, to give the Salthawks a potent net attack. Sophomore Lonna Porter and Alex Rodriguez provided quality set assists while seniors, Bailey Huhs and Madi Mong, and junior Micha Tomac held their own in the back row. There were a lot of new parts working together on Saturday. However, the team chemistry was stellar. Pierce, who had 42 kills, said the energy was great. “Yeah, a couple of us were split up for varsity and JV last year,” Pierce said. “But I think this year we really fit well together and we’ll go far.” Johnson said that Williams did a great job establishing herself as a senior leader. Williams, a returning starter, said it felt a little different being the go-to player on Saturday. But she enjoyed it and said she saw a lot the Salthawks can build from. “They kind of expect me to put the ball down every time, which was a little of pressure,” Williams said with a big laugh. “It’s kind of hard being the go-to person because if they mess up then they are all disappointed in you. For the most part, I think I am good under pressure.”