Brandywine remains game behind Bucks following win over Dowagiac

Published 9:49 pm Saturday, September 30, 2023

By Scott Novak

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NILES — Host Brandywine stayed on the heels of Lakeland Conference volleyball leader Buchanan with a 3-1 victory of Dowagiac Thursday night.

The Bucks remained on top of the standings with a 3-0 record after sweeping host Berrien Springs 3-0.

 

Brandywine Volleyball

The Bobcats (19-7-1, 2-1 Lakeland) won the first two sets against Dowagiac — 25-19 and 25-18 — only to have the Chieftains (10-11-4, 0-1 Lakeland) come back and take the third set 25-16.

Brandywine regroup and defeated Dowagiac 25-14 in the fourth set to earn the victory.

“Tonight, our defense rose to the occasion lead by our libero, Chloe Parker,” said Brandywine Coach Emily Kohler-Zablocki. “Our blockers have been improving match after match — Julia [Babcock], Tressa [Hullinger] and Addy [Drotoz] put a lot of hands on balls that we haven’t in previous matches. Our offense was fueled by [Kadence] Brumitt and Ellie [Knapp], who we look to, to make big plays for us. While we continue to make improvements, we always have areas that we can continue to improve.

“The third set was rough for us, Dowagiac wanted it more than us. I’m happy with how we recovered in the fourth set. We’ll keep working to build a solid game from start to finish.”

Brumitt finished with a team-high 29 kills, while she also had 14 digs, three aces and a block. Kallie Solloway added 10 kills, 12 digs, a team-high five aces and a block. Knapp had 47 assists, 14 digs, two blocks and three aces.

Dowagiac Coach Amber Todd felt her team came ready to play, but did not have enough to knock off the Bobcats.

“Tonight, the girls came out fighting, but it just was not enough in the first two sets,” she said. “We came out in the third set strong and successfully took the set by staying aggressive and finishing. I am proud of how the girls played today compared to Monday at the Bridgman Quad. This team has so much potential and we will keep pushing every day at practice to get better.”

Maggie Weller led Dowagiac with seven kills to go along with 10 digs, 2.5 blocks and six aces. Marlie Carpenter, Riley Todd and Abbey Dobberstein all finished with four kills. Zabrina Shiver had a team-high 12 digs, while Dobberstein had seven digs. Brooklyn Smith had 18 assists, five aces and five digs.

 

Buchanan Volleyball

The Bucks (16-2, 2-0 Lakeland) swept the Shamrocks 25-20, 25-7 and 25-18.

Chloe Aalfs had 17 kills and 10 digs, while Sophia Beckman had 30 assists, five kills, five digs an three aces. Keegan May added five kills and three aces.

More Sports

Daily Data: Tuesday, April 30

Bangor’s Lopez awarded SMC scholarship

Roundup: Bobcats’ Babcock sets school record; Bucks, Vikings, Eddies pick up sweeps

Daily Data: Monday, April 29

Print Article