DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
With the memory fresh in their minds of last year’s humiliating, straight-set defeat at the hands of the Heritage Patriots in front of their home crowd, the Bellmont Braves returned the favor Tuesday night with a convincing and dominating victory at 25-13, 25-12, 25-12.
MaryKate Scheumann led all hitters with 15 kills on the night with just one attacking error on 25 attempts. Seemingly converting every opportunity she had, the sophomore also was one of the team’s defensive leaders, tallying nine digs.
“It’s a good win for us in the middle of a heavy stretch in our schedule,” said head coach Craig Krull after his team’s win. The Braves will return home Thursday to host Fort Wayne Snider before competing Saturday at Carroll.
Lainey Simmons was the leader in kills for Heritage with five. Gabby Roussey was a busy libero with Bellmont pounding out kill attempts point after point. She finished with nine digs.
The first set was a competitive one early on, with Bellmont falling behind and the two teams eventually standing tied at ten points apiece. The Braves, though, won eight of the next ten points and forced the first Heritage time out at 18-12. Coach Shelly Schwartz’s team did not respond, however, and the away side won seven of the next eight points to take the opening set.
Bellmont jumped out to an early 10-3 and Katie Mills’ service turn prompted another pause from coach Schwartz, but a few points later it was the Braves reeling off seven points in a row, with Delaney Lawson firing away to help her team to an 18-7 lead. She finished with 11 kills.
It was much of the same in the third set as Heritage struggled to find a way to change the game, falling behind early and unable to muster any sort of response to the Braves’ offense.
Particularly effective was the Bellmont service game, which forced Heritage into awkward sets and poor passes at the start of most points. While the Braves finished with just four aces, they scored plenty of points at the net early in points because of the placement of their serves. Jackie Sutter led the team with two aces, while Sami Christen and Katie Mills had one each.
Hailey Cole also had a great night for the Braves, coming up with 28 assists, nine digs, three kills and two solo blocks.
Heritage will have a week to practice and set up for an important ACAC match against Adams Central next Tuesday. That match will be broadcast live on WZBD, 92.7 FM.
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