DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
DECATUR – Inspired play by Gracie Riggs, a willingness to feed the ball to their star, MaryKate Scheumann, and one spectacular save by Averie Coats were the right mixture for the Bellmont Braves to pull off the biggest upset in the state Thursday night to eliminate Homestead after falling behind 2-0 on their home court.
When the two teams met earlier in the season, it was a straight-set sweep by the Spartans on their home court. The loss continued the commiseration of the Braves, whose long sectional streak (one of the longest in Indiana in any sport) had been ended last season by those same Spartans in the South Side gym.
With that loss at South Side fresh in the minds of most volleyball fans, the Braves were written off by nearly everyone Thursday night.
That is, except the girls themselves.
“Man, I knew we could win,” said coach Craig Krull after the game, “but we were going to have to play well and Homestead had to make mistakes.”
Krull’s belief in his team’s chances resonated with the players, who exhibited a true belief in themselves throughout the week of practice. Many on the team were quick to point out that the Braves had beaten Homestead in the regular season (3-1) last year before falling in the sectional. Coupled with the fact that the Braves had missed Ella Ross in this year’s regular season clash, there was still plenty of genuine belief in the team of the win.
After two sets of play, that belief did not wane, despite the fact the Braves dropped the opening two sets 25-21 and 25-22.
Despite dropping those opening two sets, the Braves did not relent, building an astonishing 19-4 lead in the third set while facing elimination.
The Braves never trailed in the final three sets as they ratcheted up the noise level in the gym, with students and fans trickling in throughout the night after various other activities wrapped up on campus.
Bellmont won the third set 25-13, then took the fourth by the same score, setting up a decisive fifth set.
The final set was tied at 5-5 and 6-6, but the home team pulled away late, winning 15-9.
The victory set the Braves up to be heavy favorites on Saturday to claim the program’s 41st sectional title on their home court.
MaryKate Scheumann led the Braves with 22 kills. Her top-notch performance was supplemented by outstanding nights by Taylor Sutter (10 kills), Kaylee Kolter (8) and Katie Reinhart (7).
Gracie Riggs had 23 assists for the Braves, while also compiling eleven digs.
Perhaps the biggest stat of the night was from Kolter. The sophomore had a whopping nine solo blocks to dominate the net, especially in the final three sets.
Brea Shoaf also had three solo blocks.
Fans of Bellmont volleyball can listen to the sectional semifinal and a potential championship game Saturday with WZBD’s FM signal and/or the station’s YouTube channel.
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