Hamilton pulled off a dramatic victory Tuesday night that may have catapulted its confidence and season.

The Huskies were able to endure Casteel in a five set slugfest, winning 25-23, 18-25, 25-15, 23-25, 15-8 in a 6A Premier Region matchup at Hamilton.

Senior Raegan Richardson led the way for the Huskies with 17 kills, while junior Nia Curry had 12 kills.

Hamilton (19-14, 4-0) now leads the region after a sluggish start to the season. It also fueled more self-belief after beating an outstanding Casteel squad.

"This is a great win because Casteel is a great team," Richardson said after the win.

"We've been looking forward to this game all season. We know they're talented we know they're athletic...we know alot about them, but I think today we really understood that we're just as good, that we're just as physical, and we can play with the top dogs. At the start of the season, we were kind of up and down, and we had a lot of losses...but I think we're on the right track."

Casteel sophomore Kendall Omoruyi led the Colts (23-12, 3-1) with 18 kills, while Izzie Penrose, Dyborrah Johnson and Brooke Harwood combined for 27 kills.

The first and fourth sets were slugfests, as neither team ever led by more than four points in either set. Richardson closed out the first set, while Omoruyi and Harwood came through in the fourth with two of the final four points for Casteel. 
 

In the fifth set, a combination of Casteel hitting errors and hard striking from Richardson helped the Huskies pull away and secure the match.  

"In 20 years I think this is probably the toughest schedule I've ever had," said longtime  coach Sharon Vanis.  

"We played another great team tonight, and I told the girls the difficult schedule is starting to pay dividends." 
Hamilton's next match is at Millennium next Monday. 
Casteel travels to Chandler Thursday night.