Playing effective volleyball is all about finding your rhythm.

When the serves are singing, the bumps shots are going where they are directed and the ball is thumping the floor to a steady beat from the kills shots, volleyball teams can orchestrate beautiful music together.

Still searching for the perfect tempo, the Lady Hawks hit some high notes and low notes in Western B net action last week.

Hitting the low notes, the Hawks were swept 25-15, 25-13, 25-9 by powerful Florence in Florence Thursday, and then mixing in some high notes with other lower ones, the Falls girls nudged past Loyola 23-25, 25-15, 11-25, 25-14, 15-12 in Thompson Falls Saturday.

"We seemed to have no rhythm against Florence," Lady Hawk coach Sandra Kazmierczak said, "it went pretty fast. But we came out of that match positive that we can play better, and look forward to seeing them again."

Sophomore Scarlette Schwindt led the Hawks against the Falcons with nine set assists, five digs and three kills, Jody Detlaff had four kills and a block, Belle Copper three kills, Elli Pardee seven assists and Cheyla Irvine a block.

The Hawks dropped the first and fourth sets against Loyola, but pulled the match out with a 15-12 win of the fifth concerto (in staying with the musical theme).

Riley Wilson passed out 25 assists and stroked in two service aces, Schwindt hit a match-high 19 digs and 16 kills, Detlaff chipped in with 12 Ks and blocked four shots, Cooper blocked five kill attempts and Pardee added 11 aces and strong all-around play.

With the Hawks leading 13-12 in the fifth set, senior Brooke Bowlin closed out the tight match with the last two service points for Thompson Falls.

Sam Clevenger (16 kills and four blocks), Molly McHugh (19 assists), Brooke Twite (18 digs) and Laney Denning (four aces) led Loyola.

"Loyola is a good-looking team, that was an exciting finish," Kazmierczak said. "I expect them to get better as the season goes on. We feel good about winning this match, it was a tough one."

Kazmierczak hopes her Lady Hawk six can play more beautiful music together as the season goes on. The campaign continues this week with matches at Deer Lodge and Anaconda Saturday, and with a home match versus county rival Plains Tuesday.

"It will be a long day Saturday, so we are trying to treat it more like a tournament situation," she said. "And we always like to play Plains, that is always a fun match for everyone."