By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – The match had a reunion feel. Bloomington South’s head coach is a former assistant at Bedford North Lawrence, and a member of the BNL staff is former head coach at South. The branches of the family trees aren’t very far apart.
South’s roots currently dig a little deeper. The Panthers, grounded and solid, swept to a three-set win to end BNL’s three-match winning streak on Tuesday night.
While the Stars were struggling with serves in play, on both sides of the net, South spurted midway through each set to record a 25-16, 25-15, 25-18 triumph. Everly Clark had 11 kills and 5 aces to power the Panthers (11-11) to their fourth win in their last five outings.
BNL (10-7) never threatened to take a set. Once South surged in front, it stayed there.
“They stayed consistent,” BNL coach Aaron Wagoner said. “We can’t keep our energy up. It’s hard to explain. I think it’s growing pains.”
The painful part was the service line. Every time the Stars were on the verge of a momentum run, they would smack a serve into the net, or long past the boundary. South’s runs to the lead were fueled by stray passes that made running an offense difficult.
“We need to clean up stuff, which is always the conversation,” Wagoner said. “We have to pass better and serve better. It’s hard to pick them up after that kind of thing. It’s a killer to morale. That’s the tell-take sign of resilience, lack of or if you have it. We’ll keep battling.
“We’re trying, but it’s not always working. It’s a learning process, and those things will take time. As long as the girls are patient through it, it will be OK.”
In addition to Clark’s power, South setter Charlie Monroe had 22 assists.
“We didn’t play our best volleyball,” South coach Emma Abplanalp said. “We’re still learning how to be disciplined, how to get into a flow. We started picking it up, adjusting to what they were doing, shutting down their big hitters early.
“We’re learning. It’s a work in progress. We’re getting better each and every game. Everyone did what they were supposed to do.”
Sammie Gratzer had 9 kills, Jenna Allen totaled 5 kills, and Jayden Allen had 3 aces for the Stars.
“We’re fine,” Wagoner said. “It’s hard to be down. That’s not a bad program. They did a really good job, so I don’t fault us for losing to them.”
The Stars will visit Eastern Greene on Monday.
