What looked like it was going to be an easy night for host Brandywine turned into a struggle for the Bobcats against Grace Christian.

Brandywine had little trouble beating the Patriots 25-13 in the opening set of the match. But the final two sets were a whole different story. Despite their struggles, the Bobcats were able to complete the 3-0 sweep.

Brandywine won the second set 34-32 and the final set 25-19 to earn the victory.

“I went and asked them why they were playing so flat,” Brandywine coach Carl Greulich said. “I didn’t call a time out because I wanted them to play through it and they did eventually. But you could even see it in the third game.

“I talked to them. I said look, you are just playing flat tonight thinking you can just run over this team. They have played a lot of teams tough this year and they don’t give up. They play good defense. They asked me for corrections and who to stay away from. Obviously we needed to stay away from No. 20 (Kelsey Smith) who is an excellent middle. We had to stay away from her. They did a good job of that and we were able to pull away.”

Jessy Cooper’s ace ended a lengthy second set, while the net play of Victoria Knight and Mackenzie Shelton took its toll on Grace Christian in the third and final set.

Shelton had a big night with 16 kills, 13 digs and two aces. Knight finished with nine kills.

Cooper added 12 digs, three aces and 23 assists.

 

Brandywine d. Grace Christian 3-0

Brandywine statistics

Kills

Mackenzie Shelton 16

Victoria Knight 9

 

Digs

Shelton 13

Jessy Cooper 12

Aces

Cooper 3

Shelton 2

Mikayla Kemp 2

 

Assists

Cooper 23

Ashley DeJonge 10

 

Blocks

Alyssa Gamble 2