By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Without warning, like the Indianapolis 500 leader who suddenly blows a motor halfway through the race and coasts to a powerless stop, Bedford North Lawrence’s timing chain broke. That’s never good.
Down a set and trailing 18-13 in the second, Seymour came roaring out of nowhere, passed the Stars like they were standing still, and accelerated to a four-set triumph on Tuesday night. With incredible speed and scoring surges, the Owls flew away with a 21-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-14 win while spoiling Senior Night for BNL.
The Stars (10-16 overall, 3-3 in the Hoosier Hills Conference) were on the road to victory when their engine stalled. Seymour (10-17, 4-2) exploded for three devastating runs, going on a 15-1 burst en route taking the second set and starting the third, erupting for a 12-2 run to pull away in the third, and closing the fourth with a 12-3 exclamation point.
“Finally,” Seymour coach Angie Lucas said. “We’ve been preaching all season, get on a run. We were finally able to do that.”
What happened? One moment, BNL was so smooth. Adalynn Bailey punched a soft spike into the corner for a winner, Lily Mishler sent a back-row missile off a blocker, and Amelia Lawmaster cracked a service ace for the 18-13 advantage in the second. Then everything fell apart.
”From play to play, we were not picking up on cues,” BNL coach Aaron Wagoner said. “And then it started spiraling. I’m not disappointed in the effort, that was there. But just the focus.”
The scary thing about Seymour? One senior and one junior on the roster. Kendal Robinson, a 6-foot-1 freshman hitter, cranked 13 kills and added 10 digs. Lily Surface totaled nine kills plus 12 digs, and Audra Bush totaled five aces.
“Our serving improved, that helped us out tremendously,” Lucas said. “It was all about our serving. Once we started communicating better, our passing started improving, we got on a roll and good things happened.”
Mishler paced BNL with 13 kills and three aces, while Izzy Root added nine kills and four blocks. Bailey finished with 27 assists and 20 digs, and Emry Crane had six kills and two blocks. BNL honored seniors Jenna Allen and Ellie Nubbie (sidelined with an injury).
The Stars need some momentum as they close the regular season this week.
“We do, but I don’t know where it comes from,” Wagoner said. “Sometimes it comes from rest, and we’re not getting that. We will see what happens. We’re justing focusing on the first game of the sectional.”
BNL will visit Loogootee on Thursday, then compete in the Silver Creek Invitational on Saturday before shifting to the IHSAA Class 3A sectional at Indian Creek.
