It’s always nice to watch two good volleyball teams square off on the opening day of the season and that was the case at Baylor Monday afternoon.
The CSAS Lady Patriots were the opponent. Even though they didn’t win, they showed what they are capable of and proved that they’re qualified to play with anyone.
Both of these teams took part in the state tournament last fall, but Baylor ended up with the upper hand in this first match as they prevailed by scores of 25-17, 26-24 and 25-7.
It was a challenge for the Lady Raiders as starting setter Milyn Hold suffered an ankle injury at the end of Thursday’s practice, giving coach Sarah Lail all of one day to revamp her game plan in preparation for this first match. All seemed to work out just fine and the veteran Baylor coach was all smiles when the last point had been scored.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these young ladies as we had to make some adjustments with just one day to do it, but Emma Mulvaney and Reese Madden both came through and stepped up big,” Lail began after the Baylor field house had pretty much cleared out.
“We had some work to do when we got behind in the second set, but I was proud of how we kept our composure and just kept battling. We just had to stay consistent and that’s what we did, but I thought our serving was a key as they had some key players we wanted to keep the ball away from.
“But we did a nice job of following the game plan and we’re looking forward to another outstanding season,” Lail added.
Cobi Christiansen is in his first year as the CSAS head coach after serving as an assistant at Notre Dame, but he had his girls ready to play and they didn’t seem the least bit intimidated playing on the road against a team that is normally one of the best around from year to year.
“I think we’re there, but we just showed what we’re capable of doing,” he began.
“We were within a point of winning that second set and it hurt to lose it, but we just have to be strong throughout the match. We weren’t as consistent as I would have liked, but we have some new ones who don’t have as much experience, but it might have been a completely different outcome if we could have taken that second set,” he concluded with a smile.
Baylor scored six of the first seven points to start the match and had a 9-2 lead before Christiansen called his first timeout. The Lady Patriots played much better the rest of that set and even though they never had the lead, they showed more confidence in their own ability to play against another really good team.
A kill from Amanda Gardner got the Lady Patriots within six at 23-17 before back-to-back kills from freshman Fergie Hammel gave the home team the early advantage.
CSAS may have been down at that point, but they were a long way from out as they gave the Lady Raiders all they wanted and more in the second set.
A kill from Savannah Moore gave CSAS the early 1-0 lead and the Lady Patriots went on a run where they scored seven of the next eight points for an 8-2 lead before Lail called Baylor’s first timeout. Brynne Burkhart was the key to that run as she had five straight service points, including three of her four aces.
A kill from Kenzie Johnson and two kills from Catherine Curtis wrapped around an ace from Nina Lail allowed Baylor to cut that lead to 8-6. Baylor kept the pressure on with an ace from Rory Oleksik knotted the score at 14-14 and leading to a timeout for the Lady Patriots.
There were three lead changes and eight ties the rest of the way as neither team seemed able to get the upper hand. A big kill from Moore gave the visitors a 24-23 lead and put them at set point, but Mulvaney refused to quit and got another kill to knot the score at 24.
An ace from Mulvaney gave Baylor the upper hand at 25-24 before a kill from Johnson shifted the momentum back to Baylor’s side with the hard-earned win.
A kill from Burkhart gave CSAS a brief 1-0 lead in the final set, but momentum was clearly on Baylor’s side and that’s where their service efficiency took over.
Five straight points from Oleksik, five in a row from Mulvaney and seven straight from Reagan Caplenor put Baylor comfortably ahead 23-5 and the match ended a minute later when Willa Provonsha recorded a kill.
Johnson, who is just an eighth grader, had a memorable first start as she finished with 14 kills. Mulvaney had her usual outstanding match to finish with 12 kills, 17 assists, five aces and a dig.
Madden also had 17 assists in her first start as a sophomore to go along with two aces and three digs while Oleksik finished the day with 11 digs, five aces and two assists.
Moore set the pace for CSAS with eight kills, nine digs and a block while Gardner had five kills and four digs. Burkhart also had a positive impact for her team as she finished with 13 assists, seven digs and four aces.
BRADLEY WON its season opener with a 3-1 victory over Signal Mountain, the Bearettes winning by scores of 25-19, 15-25, 25-22 and 25-18.
CSAS STATS:
Julia Anderson – 1 ace
Brynne Burkhart – 4 aces, 13 assists, 7 digs
Amanda Gardner – 5 kills, 4 digs
Savannah Moore – 8 kills, 9 digs, 1 block
Cece Sport – 6 digs
Harper Sport – 1 ace
Naomi Williams – 2 kills.
BAYLOR STATS:
Brenna Bagley -- 2 kills, 2 aces, 6 digs
Molly Billington – 3 kills, 2 digs
Reagan Caplenor – 1 ace
Catherine Curtis – 2 kills
Fergie Hammel – 3 kills, 6 digs
Rylee Jasper – 1 dig
Kenzie Johnson – 14 kills, 2 digs
Nina Lail – 1 assist, 3 aces, 6 digs
Reese Madden – 17 assists, 2 aces, 3 digs
Emma Mulvaney – 12 kills, 17 assists, 5 aces, 1 dig
Rory Oleksik – 2 assists, 5 aces, 11 digs
Willa Provonsha – 3 kills, 1 assist.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN STATS:
Kate Lowe -- 19 digs
Carly Stone -- 3 kills
Taylor Warren -- 5 aces, 9 kills, 13 digs, 10 assists
Madison Shelton -- 2 kills, 2 blocks
Ella Butterfield -- 15 digs, 1 ace
Gabby Minton -- 7 kills, 1 block
Becca Rogers -- 9 kills, 1 ace, 22 digs, 1 block
Mallie Brown -- 3 aces, 1 dig
Kate Gilbert -- 2 kills, 2 digs
Abney Harwood -- 3 aces, 1 kill, 14 digs, 16 assists.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)