SPORTS

Bedford North Lawrence turns the corner during its volleyball tournament Saturday

Jeff Bartlett
The Times-Mail

BEDFORD — Bedford North Lawrence assistant volleyball coach Josie Barnes saw it clearly. So did just about everybody else in BNL Fieldhouse Saturday morning.

It was the "Aha" moment the Stars had impatiently awaited.

BNL figured out some flow and got some things to go during the Bedford North Lawrence Invitational. It did not yield immediate success in terms of wins because the competition was fierce, but it did produce marked improvement during a two-hour, four-set marathon with Mater Dei that stretched from morning to afternoon before the Evansville school pulled out a 26-28, 25-17, 25-18, 29-27 triumph.

BNL senior Carlee Kern thumps one of her 14 kills against Evansville Mater Dei Saturday at BNL Fieldhouse.

The Stars had to turn right around and face a powerful Terre Haute South club, ranked No.7 in Class 4A, were out of gas and good fortune as the Braves rolled, 25-7, 25-13, 25-11.

Stars start to click in first match

"I think they had that 'Aha' moment we've been waiting for," Barnes said. "You could just see it in how they moved and how things ran. It was so much better."

BNL junior setter Annie Waggoner pops an assist to a teammate Saturday during the BNL Invitational.

Head coach Gabrielle Arthur agreed.

"We played so much better and improved a lot as a team today," she said. "I told the girls afterward that I saw something good, something better, from each and every one of them. 

"Now we have to take it and build upon it going forward. We're making up for a lot of lost matches, but if we keep playing like this we're going to win some and get better and better."

Full squad back for BNL

Of course, having the full squad together for the first time since the opening match was a huge factor. During a 10-day COVID-19 quarantine stretch, the Stars missed seven matches, and still had a couple of girls out for a few more.

Sophomore Camryn Anderson returned to the starting rotation Saturday and the pieces fell into place, particularly in the first set against Mater Dei when the Stars were clearly the aggressors. They came at the Wildcats with tough serving, solid passing, and the usual scrappy defense as senior Maddy Bennett and junior Annie Waggoner were their usual all-over-the-floor selves, and juniors Hayley Davis and Harley Tanksley joined in.

BNL senior Emma Foreman lunges to bump a pass during the BNL Invitational Saturday morning.

It led to some big kills for senior Carlee Kern as BNL built as much as a 17-11 lead. Mater Dei answered behind 6-1 senior middle hitter Devon Folz as it rallied to tie and eventually take a 26-26 edge.

Anderson came up with a key kill for the Stars to even things, and the Wildcats sent a serve into the net before Waggoner caught the defense napping with a dump kill to win the set.

Mater Dei turned the tables in the next two games, reversing the role of aggressors, but BNL dug in in the fourth game and again took it to overtime as Kern rained kills and added some big-time blocks on Folz in the middle. Waggoner had a great save that let to a Wildcat error and a 27-27 tie, but Janelle Schapker and Folz answered with kills to end the match.

BNL senior Maddy Bennett (10) slips a kills between Mater Dei's Janelle Schapker (7) and Regan Sherretz (14) Saturday at BNL Fieldhouse.

Kern pounded 14 kills, had seven digs and six blocks, Bennett added eight kills and 10 digs, Waggoner had 10 digs, five kills and over 20 assists, while Anderson added four kills for the Stars.

Arthur wants Bedford to up its 'ups'

"Our 'ups' were so much better in this match," Arthur said, referring to stretches of strong play. "Those periods where were play well and with a lot more energy, we had more of them and they were longer.

"So you could see them figuring things out on the court. Now we just have to get more consistent with the 'ups' and not have those stretches where we flatten out and kind of lose it. But it's coming around. We played better against Trinity Lutheran Thursday and again today against Mater Dei. The girls fought to the very last point."

No.7 Terre Haute South too much

Bedford poured its heart into the Mater Dei match, and the tank was empty for Terre Haute South, which had its own tough match in a four-set loss to Class 4A No.4 Trinity Lutheran, 25-23, 25-21, 25-27, 26-24, in the other first-round match.

It was only the second loss of the season for the Braves (16-2), and they were determined there wasn't going to be a third. With 6-0 senior outside hitter Courtney Jones, who is committed to NCAA Division I Lipscomb University, seemingly soaring to the rafters on repeated kills, South was never threatened.

BNL sophomore Anna Williams rises up to challenge Mater Dei's Devon Folz at the net Saturday at BNL Fieldhouse.

During a 19-3 getaway in Game 1, which included a 14-point serving spree by Ashly Swan, Jones swatted six kills and 6-0 Lilly Merk added four. Before it was finished, Jones had taken her kills total to 195 already.

Arthur used the match to get some experience for her players.

"Everybody we had with us today played and Terre Haute South is a great team, but I saw some good things," she said. "We started battling a little better after the first game. I'm proud of how hard the girls played today."

Trinity Lutheran won the tournament with a 25-17, 25-19, 18-25, 25-18 victory over Mater Dei in the championship match.

Bennett had five kills, while Kern added four kills and four digs for BNL (1-8), which hosts Shoals Thursday on Senior Night. It's a varsity-only match scheduled for 6 p.m.

Contact Times-Mail Sports Writer Jeff Bartlett via email at jeffb@tmnews.com, or on Twitter @jeffbtmnews.