By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Making adjustments on the move is tough enough. Doing it against one of the perennial powers in the Hoosier Hills Conference? Cue the Mission Impossible theme music.
Floyd Central, the Big Green Machine in the league, continued its mastery of Bedford North Lawrence, cruising to a three-set sweep on Thursday night. Anything else, considering the history of the series and the state of the Stars, would have been an upset.
BNL (4-7, 0-2 in the HHC) suffered a 25-14, 25-10, 25-13 loss to the Highlanders. The Stars had to make another lineup adjustment, without practice time to work out any kinks.
“We went in with a lot of adversity going against us,” BNL coach Whitney Carroll said. “We had a freshman on the court, in a really big role.
“So honestly, we were celebrating in the locker room because they did so well. I always talk about our core values and staying true to each other, and we controlled our side of the court. We had some big-time digs, we had some great plays, we held our own on our side.”
On the other side, Floyd Central coach Bart Powell, a 2016 inductee into the Indiana Volleyball Hall of Fame, watched his team grow a little more. With only one returning player into their same position as a year ago, that growth is important. The Highlanders evened their record at 4-4, although that includes a perfect 3-0 mark in the league.
“We have an opportunity to be good, we’re not quite there yet,” said Powell, now in his 38th year with the program. “We’ve played some big dogs but made young-team mistakes. We have talent, it just has to mesh. And it will take a couple of more weeks.“
BNL’s meshing will likely take longer, although freshman Fallyn Johnson and sophomore Suttyn Alvey held their own when thrust into the varsity spotlight. While Floyd’s dominance didn’t allow the Stars to total many statistics, Kendlyn Alvey and Trinidy Bailey had 10 digs each. Sammie Gratzer totaled 6 kills and Camryn Anderson added 4 kills at the net.
The Stars will host New Albany on Tuesday.
