ATHENS, Tenn. — After splitting four matches at the Showdown at the Sunsphere over the weekend, Bradley Central picked up its sixth win of the young volleyball season Tuesday, at McMinn County.
Breezing to a 25-12, 25-15, 25-12 sweep of the Lady Cherokees, Coach Christie McElhaney's Bearettes improved to 6-2 on the campaign and will travel to Ooltewah Thursday for a District 6-AAA battle.
Bradley blanked the hosts behind 25 kills, 25 assists and 18 aces, while making good on 90.1% of its serves, plus dug out 49 Tribe hits.
The Bearettes roared early, putting nine of the night's first 10 points on the scoreboard, plus built 13-4 and 18-6 advantages before the teams evenly split the final dozen points of the opening set.
McMinn made it tougher in the second game, battling to an 8-all tie, but Bradley junior libero Wyatt Powell sandwiched five aces around a pair of McMinn errors for a 7-0 streak to break it open.
In the final set, the Bearettes used five aces from senior Claudia Boyd for a quick 10-1 edge.
Pushing the match to the brink, Bradley had set point at 24-9 before McMinn delayed the end with three straight points before the visitor closed out their third straight double-digit win.
Rotating in 17 players, Coach McElhaney saw a well-balance team stat sheet.
Senior Libby Stewart powered a half dozen kills, plus had four digs, while junior Addi Staton also spiked six shots, plus blocked four shots that stayed in play.
Junior Ma'Ryah Greenwood helped out with five kills, five digs and a downed block.
Powell put 88.2% of her 17 serves in play, garnering seven aces, plus had dug out 15 Tribe shots.
Boyd put 9-of-her-10 serves between the lines with five aces, plus had a kill and a block.
Junior Tabitha Eaves 3 kills, while senior Addison Stuman handed out a half dozen assists, had two kills, and ace, four digs and a trio of stuffs that stayed in play.
Junior Lilly Winters put 90% of her 11 serves in play, with an aced, while also handing out 11 assists.
Junior Sadie Gallaher went 4-for-5 behind the service line with a pair of aces, while classmate Eilsea Messer got all six of her serves between the lines with two aces, plus dealt four assists.
Junior Presleigh Sanders also handed out four "dimes," with classmate Jenna Belcher digging out eight shots and getting all five of her serves in play.
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