By Keith Brake
BELLE PLAINE – Do you want to add even more excitement to your life?
Then friends, next time Montezuma goes to war against Belle Plaine in volleyball, grab a ticket and be there!
They sailed into each other Monday, Oct. 14, in the conference tournament. Hearts pounded, pulse rates soared . . .it was a coronary colossal . . .and yes, a lot of fun, too!
Belle Plaine won it in five sets, 3-2.
The Bravettes won the first two sets. Belle Plaine won the next three, two of them going overtime.
For the record, the scores in the 3-2 Plainsmen win were 22-25, 22-25, 30-28, 25-18 . . .and 17-15.
“It was honestly such a good match,” said Bravettes Coach Katie Dunlap.
“The best part of Monday was how well we played as a team. We never gave up,” said the coach. “We kept pushing and competing.”
Belle Plaine has run amok in the season’s second half, having now won 14 of its last 15 matches in a 23-12 season.
The Bravettes have shown steady improvement as they’ve faced good competition of late, and finally got over the .500 mark (16-15) with a win over English Valleys earlier on Monday.
The face of the franchise for Belle Plaine has been hitter Nicholaa Phillippe, a 5-9 junior.
Against Montezuma, she went off for 58 kills. That’s right, fifty-eight! On 82 attacks.
“She is very talented,” Dunlap said. “She made smart decisions with the ball.”
Still, the Bravettes put the home team on the ropes. After winning 25-22 in both sets one and two, Montezuma traded points with the Plainsmen. They reached 25 – you have to win by at least two – until finally the smoke cleared with a 30-28 Belle Plaine victory.
Belle Plaine won by seven in game four to square the match.
Game five, the tie-breaker, is played to 15 points. Again, overtime, albeit brief, with Belle Plaine taking the match with a 17-15 victory. It was hard-earned.
“They (Belle Plaine) were in a battle the whole time,” Dunlap said.
Ashlyn Krousie had a stong hitting game for the Bravettes, getting 23 kills in 60 attacks.
Dylan Holland had 14 kills and Shelby Conger had 10.
Waverly Roorda added 45 assists to her school record career total.
Maddy McKeag led the Bravettes with 11 digs.
Roorda (19-19), Krousie (17-18, three aces), Conger (20-21), Korinn Kehoe (18-22, two aces) and Katie Reynolds (14-16) all had strong serving totals. But Belle Plaine dug out most of them. Montezuma had six aces in 100 good serve attempts.
Phillippe added to her 21 digs to her kills totals.
Setter Mandy Chizek, a freshman, had 56 assists and 19 digs.
Belle Plaine’s win did eliminate the Bravettes from the SICL’s championship round quartet for Thursday.
“Unfortunately, we ended up losing, but sometimes in defeat you learn even more,” Dunlap said.
UP NEXT – The tourney concludes Thursday. Montezuma will be traveling to Victor to compete in what the SICL calls the “silver” bracket. Sigourney meets HLV at 5 p.m., with Montezuma playing Colfax-Mingo 17 minutes after the first match concludes. The two winners meet after that.
AND INTO POST-SEASON – The Bravettes will take on BGM in first round regional play Tuesday, Oct. 22, in Montezuma.
Bravette stats
Kills – Ashlyn Krousie 23, Dylan Holland 14, Shelby Conger 10, Wavery Roorda 5, Lauren Klos 4, Katie Reynolds 2, Korinn Kehoe 1.
Assists – Roorda 45, Reynolds 10, Conger 3.
Digs – Maddy McKeag 11, Conger 5, Krousie 5, Reynolds 3, Holland 2, Kierstyn Price 1, Roorda 1.
Blocks – Holland 4, Conger 1, Klos 1.
Serves – Conger 20-21, Keohoe 18-22 with 2 aces; Roorda 19-19, Krousie 17-18 with 3 aces; Reynolds 14-16, Holland 7-9, McKeag 5-7.
