BV tames Tigers in 3-set ESD match
By:
Jill Meier, Journal editor
Brandon Valley’s volleyball team has a good thing going thus far in the 2020 season. The 9-3 Lady Lynx kept their positive vibe – and their undefeated Eastern South Dakota Conference record – in check Oct. 6 with a 3-0 defeat over Harrisburg. BV put the match away behind their 26-24, 25-16, 25-21 set victories.
The 3-0 defeat is a clear improvement over the last time the Lynx and Tigers met up in mid-September. That match went five sets and BV coach Marette Grage summed up that victory as “good and bad and everything in between.”
This time around, Grage said her team “had a good game.”
The Lady Lynx clicked on all cylinders Tuesday night. They pelted 34 kills at the Tigers, 15 off the hand of Brooklyn Grage and seven by Kazi Ellingson. Morgan Hunt was also a beast at the net. The senior had seven of the team’s nine total blocks.
“Morgan was on fire. She had an awesome game,” Coach Grage said.
BV’s back row also played heads-up volleyball, picking up 88 digs in the match. The effort was led by a trio of Lady Lynx – Taylor Stemen, who had 19, Jenna Stengel, who had 18, and Abby Finch, who had 15.
Liz Kopp was credited with 32 set assists and a trio of ace serves.
The Tigers (4-7) were guided by Abby Meister’s seven kills and lone ace serve. Reese Jansa recorded 17 digs and 14 set assists, and Hannah Healy had two blocks.
Grage said BV’s most complete match was played in Aberdeen a week earlier.
“That was so much fun,” she said. “The first two sets were pretty close and then came that third set and everything clicked.”
Grage attributes the team’s string of victories to their focus on “getting a little bit better every week and trying to play a cleaner game.”
“The girls have great team chemistry and I attribute a lot of that to them. They really work well together, talk on the court and work through what’s open and what’s not open, and they’re all really smart players,” she said.
In the underclassmen ranks, the Lynx JV and freshman A teams both came away with 2-0 victories, while the sophomore squad lost 2-1 and the freshman B team fell 2-0.
Following the Lady Lynx’s ESD road match at Brookings on Tuesday, BV is on break until Oct. 20 when they pay a visit to Yankton.
