By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Bedford North Lawrence had almost forgotten how much fun winning can be, and how contagious it becomes. The memories are starting to return.
After struggling through a season with only two triumphs a year ago, the Stars have already surpassed that total, and the regular season is not even a week old. How about that. BNL reached that modest milestone with a three-set sweep of Brown County on Thursday night.
Powered by Sammie Gratzer’s deadly force at the net and senior Kendlyn Alvey’s defensive work on the back line, the Stars swept past the Eagles 25-16, 25-21, 25-12 while improving to 3-1. There’s still a lot of matches ahead.
“It feels amazing,” Alvey said. “We’re finally working as a team. And it really shows. It was really tough, but it’s an amazing feeling. We’ve put in the work. This group has put it together.”
This victory had snap, crackle and pop. Snap? That was Gratzer’s 13 kills. She was hitting the ball hard enough to leave a smoke contrail and send defenders topping backward. The BNL coaching staff has created a new stat column – she’s hit an opponent in the head every match so far.
“She’s a beast,” BNL coach Whitney Carroll said. “And she can do that every time. It’s just getting the confidence to do that. We can have a weapon if we allow ourselves to use it.”
Crackle? That was Alvey’s 20 digs on the back row. And she wasn’t alone in her defensive work. Camryn Anderson totaled 11 digs and Trinidy Bailey added 10. The Eagles are a small but feisty group, as they displayed with an early lead in the second set, but BNL matched that hustle.
“They still have that doubt every now and then,” Carroll said. “We get to a spot, definitely in every match, where we have a lull. It’s just recovering, getting the mental game there. Wins will get us that.”
Pop? That was BNL’s team total of 14 service aces. And in the third set, after Brown County had battled within 8-7, Alvey served the Stars to an 18-7 advantage. They cruised home from there.
The Stars will host Bloomington North on Saturday.
