By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Her name indicates Dutch heritage. Did you know the Netherlands is ranked among the happiest countries in the world? Not exactly sure how that’s measured. Just be sure Bloomfield went home happy on Tuesday night.
With sophomore Mariana Van Der Aa, a transfer from Benton Central, doing heavy damage from the front line, the young Cardinals broke through for their first victory of the 2023 campaign, clipping Bedford North Lawrence in a back-and-forth, five-set battle. Bet Bloomfield is happy it hired Van Der Aa’s father as the new school superintendent.
Van Der Aa was the difference maker in the fifth set, smashing down 7 kills to power Bloomfield to an 8-5 lead that held up during a 19-25, 25-19, 25-15, 18-25, 15-9 triumph.
The Stars were too streaky. They had sensational moments, like winning 12 of 13 points at one section of the first set, like blasting to a quick 21-9 lead in the fourth, but the Cardinals (1-6) were steady. That description defies a roster with only one senior.
“This is a really young group, playing four sophomores,” Bloomfield coach Deanna Potts said. “There’s a lot of inexperience out there on the floor, but there’s a lot of talent. It’s just getting them to realize the amount of talent they truly have.”
The same can be said of the Stars. Case in point: the first and fourth sets. After stumbling out of the gate and trailing 8-3, BNL went ballistic as Cali Mansker took the service line and propelled her team to a 15-9 advantage. Sammie Gratzer capped the opening set with a kill, and BNL was off and running.
Then came the stumbles. Van Der Aa established her authority on the left side of the offense, whistling kill after kill past helpless defenders. BNL was truly lifeless in the third set and appeared ready to crumble.
“The really cool thing was, when we lost that set – and it really wasn’t pretty – the old us would have rolled over and let them win that fourth set,” BNL coach Whitney Carroll said. “But this year we’re fighting and they believe they can do it. So that set was promising. I’m so proud of them. They’re fighting, it just takes time.”
In the fifth – boom, boom. Van Der Aa slugged five kills for a 6-1 lead that established momentum in the shortened race to 15 points to determine the fifth-set tiebreaker. The Stars never recovered, thanks to a series of errors that got Bloomfield to the brink at 14-6. Lila Koontz closed the match with a push to the back corner.
BNL (3-4) suffered its third straight setback.
“We had some lineup changes, some inexperience, and a moment of disbelief,” Carroll said. “No loss is fun, and it’s hard to say it was a good loss. But we’re gaining lot of experience. It’s still positive.”
Gratzer paced BNL with 22 kills, Camryn Anderson totaled 18 kills and 14 digs, and Kendlyn Alvey had 34 digs on the back row.
The Stars will visit Jennings County on Thursday.
