Brandywine’s Morgan Smallwood spikes the ball against Buchanan’s Rachel Bonek Wednesday night. (The Daily News/Amelio Rodriguez)

By SCOTT NOVAK

Dowagiac Daily News

BUCHANAN — The front line of the Brandywine volleyball team was just too much for host Buchanan to handle Wednesday night in its Lakeland Conference contest.

The Bobcats used a powerful offense to sweep the Bucks 25-18, 25-15 and 25-15.

“We got a bunch of tall girls with long arms,” Brandywine coach Nikki Bush said of her team’s powerhouse spikers. “We have a load of strong hitters, so you never know who we are going to set it to.”

Brandywine mixed it up pretty well, attacking from the net and from the back row as well.

When they weren’t throwing down a spike, the Bobcats servers were racking up some pretty impressive numbers as well.

Lauren Leonard was the star of  the first two sets for Brandywine and she ended the night with five aces, nine kills, three blocks and seven digs.

All of those statitistics were either tops for the team or tied for the top spot.

In the third set, the Bobcats spread the wealth around as Kelsey Prestly, Morgan Smallwood and Mackenzie Shelton all recorded kills.

Buchanan, which has just one senior on its roster and just four juniors, tried to counter with standout Audrey Oake.

Oake racked up 15 kills, but didn’t see the ball nearly enough to keep the Bucks in the match.

Passing and serve reception was an issue for Buchanan all night long and in the end, cost the Bucks a shot at the upset.

“I thought our front row did a good job,” Buchanan coach Lisa Holok said. “I was happy with the individuals that were playing in different positions tonight.

“They (Brandywine) have a lot of weapons, but our defense was just not very good and neither was our serve receive.”

Besides Leonard’s totals, the Bobcats also got seven kills and two aces from Prestly and seven digs from Smallwood.

Setter Jessy Cooper finished the night with 24 assists.

The win sets up a showdown with Coloma next Wednesday night at Brandywine for  the Lakeland Conference regular season championship.

Buchanan meanwhile will take on Berrien Springs next week before finishing league play with Cassopolis.

Brandywine also won the JV contest with a 25-18 and 25-15 decision.

Brandywine statistics

Kills

Lauren Leonard 9

Kelsey Prestly 7

Digs

Leonard 7

Morgan Smallwood 7

Blocks

Leonard 3

Assists

Jessy Cooper 24

Aces

Leonard 5

Buchanan statistics

Audrey Oake 15 kills 14 digs

Dani Dale 4 digs 5 kills

Kelsie Patrick 5 kills 4 digs

Rachel Boneck 3 kills 2 blocks

Ashley Simpson 2 digs  3 kills 1 block

Erin Glavin  7 digs

Baylie Lee 2 digs

Brooke Schultz 4 digs

Pachia Benson 10 digs 25 assists 1 ace