There’s no doubt that the Bellmont Braves were on a roll heading into Saturday’s Yorktown Invite.
And there’s certainly no doubt that the BHS program, one of the legendary volleyball machines in the Hoosier State, is on everyone’s radar due to their appearances in the last two 3A State Finals.
But after four wins in six hours Saturday over top-notch competition, there is zero doubt that this Bellmont team is a good one. Perhaps good enough to secure a third state title in program history.
MaryKate Scheumann led the Braves in kills with 37 in the best-of-three format across the four rounds.
“I’ve been coaching for 19 years and we’ve never gone 4-0 here,” noted head coach Craig Krull. “But we get one day off and then we have the State Champs Monday.”
The Braves will indeed have little time to savor their accomplishments before taking on Blackhawk Christian Monday, but the importance of the day should not be overstated.
Bellmont trailed early in the morning match in the auxiliary gym against Westfield at 24-21, but they won the next five in a row to seal the opening set of the day. The two teams were tied at 20-20 in the second set before the Braves repeated their feat, winning five in a row to get off on the right foot for the day.
“Westfield played aggressively and we made some unforced errors but we caught some lucky breaks to steal both sets,” said Krull.
After a short break, the Braves had no problem taking care of Crown Point, winning 25-17, 25-17. Bellmont led throughout and stayed precise with the serve to take care of the Bulldogs.
In the noon round the Braves played Concordia for the second time in five days, winning again 25-17, 25-15.
“It was no different from Tuesday’s match,” said Krull. “We have played them so much that we know them very well. We were the ones who made the plays and we exploited their flaws. We answered every push they made.”
At 3-0 in the auxiliary gym, the Braves moved over to the big gym for the feature match of the day against Roncalli.
Taking on a much taller team, the Braves won the first set 25-20 and completed the perfect day in the second with a 25-18 victory.
For the Braves, it came down to defense, an element of the BHS program that seems to grow stronger each year as Krull and his girls continue to evolve and adapt.
“That was a very high-powered offense,” Krull said of the Royals. “Our court sense allowed us to move into the right positions to make that defensive play when we had to. Our offense was challenged to make plays but we were able to get through the pressure and find a way to close the match.”
Delaney Lawson had 24 kills and Jackie Sutter added 21 in the eight sets played by the Braves.
Hailey Cole had 75 assists and 11 kills herself, while Sami Christen led the team with 44 digs.
Sutter led the team with five aces.
After they take on Blackhawk Christian Monday, the Braves will play at Heritage in a big rivalry match heard live on WZBD, 92.7 FM.
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