By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Adapting baseball terminology to this sport, Bedford North Lawrence volleyball brought in the closers in each set to sweep Bloomington North.
The Stars dominated the closing points in every set while recording a sweep of the Cougars. BNL (6-7) carded a 25-19, 25-20, 25-22 triumph on Thursday night to end a three-game losing streak.
Each set was decided late. BNL was locked in a 17-17 stalemate at the end of the first, fought to the exact same score in the second, and trailed 21-20 in the third before pulling out each frame.
“We’re getting better at fighting,” BNL coach Aaron Wagoner said. “The desperation was there. We need to keep being desperate. Every point counts.”
In the opener, Izzy Root had two big blocks for points as Lily Mishler served five straight points to break the standoff. Jenna Allen ripped a kill down the line and Root smacked one off a quick set in the middle to finish it off.
Another Allen kill and Trinidy Bailey’s hard serve keyed a 4-0 run to shatter the 17-17 tie in the second set, and the Stars capped the run with two Mishler kills and Adalynn Bailey’s hard serve that the Cougars (2-8) couldn’t handle.
In the third, Mishler ignited the comeback with a block at the net and a service winner. Bailey banged down a block at the net for the deciding point – after Mishler’s drama at the service line. As she prepared to hit at 24-22, the referee blew her whistle, causing Mishler to pause and catch her jump-serve toss in midair. After some discussion between the officials, she was allowed to retry the point.
“I heard the whistle and thought that was my go sign,” Mishler said. “Then she looked at me, and I was confused. I was just thinking to myself to get this serve in.“
Sammie Gratzer paced BNL with 9 kills, Mishler totaled 8 and Allen finished with 7. Sara Williams had 13 digs and 3 aces, Trinidy Bailey posted 8 digs and 3 aces, and Allen contributed 11 digs and 3 aces.
”They played well together,” Wagoner said. “The outside hitters were smoking the ball. We had some pretty good blocks, and Trinidy served the time out of the ball. They kept things consistent.”
BNL needed the boost after the recent battles with powers Floyd Central, Providence and New Albany.
”It’s been a grind, playing teams of that caliber,” Wagoner said. “If you’re not on your game, you can’t even compete. So having something like this, to bounce back and get a win, feels really good.”
“The last couple of games were pretty tough teams,” Mishler said. “We battled as hard as we could. So we were dedicated to win this one.”
BNL will visit Mooresville on Saturday.
