By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Before it could shift focus to a huge showdown with neighbor and rival Floyd Central, New Albany had to take care of a business trip. And sophomore hitter Ellie Scharlow made sure that happened.
Scharlow hammered down 24 kills as the Bulldogs swatted off Bedford North Lawrence in three sets on Tuesday night. Human nature was hard to keep down, as was BNL during a third-set challenge, but the Bulldogs avoided the look-ahead letdown with a 25-20, 25-17, 25-23 triumph.
New Albany (7-3 overall, 2-0 in the Hoosier Hills Conference) ended a two-match losing skid as Scharlow dominated the front row.
“Ellie crushed the ball, played very well,” NA coach Ryan Woosley said. “The rest of the team was kind of going through the motions at times. We dug ourselves a hole, but we found way to win.”
The Stars (4-8, 0-3 in the league) showed some spunk, particularly during the third set when they bolted to a 16-11 lead. New Albany’s Reese Tiesing changed the momentum with eight straight service points, and the Bulldogs hung on from there to complete the sweep.
“Volleyball is very much a game of momentum,” BNL coach Whitney Carroll said. “It’s hard for our girls to pop out of that.”
Sammie Gratzer paced the Stars with 8 kills and 12 digs, Camryn Anderson totaled 6 kills and 7 digs, and Kendlyn Alvey had 10 digs. BNL held its own on quick points. The longer the rally, the more likely New Albany was to win the point.
“They played good volleyball, but so did we,” Carroll said. “It was fun to be a part of that game.
“In big key moments, they made key plays. The more times we have to hit the ball in a rally, we stop thinking and are just fighting to survive.”
Addi Vaughn had 37 assists and Charlotte Fisher added 7 kills for New Albany, which will host Floyd Central (3-0 in the league) in a battle for the conference lead on Thursday. That’s the same night BNL will host Lanesville.
