By RYAN WALKER
DECATUR — Bellmont swept Norwell at home in volleyball at the Teepee, and who can blame them?
The Knights lost the first set 25-17, the second 25-10, and the third 25-19, against one of the state’s best on the road on its senior night.
The Braves, now 23-2 on the season, are currently ranked No. 1 in the fresh batch of IHSCVA rankings from Monday. The team has had two state titles over the last decade and change while being the runner-up in the state final in 2021 and 2022.
The team even boasts an NCAA Division One commitment, Delaney Lawson, who will be heading to Utah State in the Mountain West Conference.
There are several other players on the roster that make an impact, creating fits for opposing coaches to find a weakness.
“They’re always a very, very solid team kind of in every aspect,” Norwell head coach Kayla Hunter said after the match. “If it’s serve receive, we were trying to find people to pick on, and we can’t because they’re just really solid.”
Considering the scores, Norwell held its own and showed it still belonged on the court. It’s been a program that’s gradually getting better as the years pass, eclipsing a winning record for the first time since 2014.
At times, Norwell attackers found a rhythm offensively, covered the floor well on defense, and made a few nice blocks on hard spikes.
“I honestly was really proud of them,” Hunter said. “I thought (Norwell) played well against a great team, and I kind of talked before that we know (Bellmont’s) going to get really good swings. They’re going to play really well, so we need to shake off their good plays and just try to make their own.”
Hunter shared that the game plan was to give their best to challenge a good opponent and to make adjustments as the game went along. She used five timeouts throughout the night, learning that the best way to approach each point was on serve receive since it’s more controllable than other strategies.
At the end of the day, the Braves just had more playmakers and proved why they’re the best in 3A.
With the loss, Norwell sinks to 1-3 in the Northeast 8 Conference but 14-9 overall.
Stat leaders on the night were Macie Saalfrank with seven kills and 10 assists, Autumn Lee with eight digs, Jordyn Xayyachack with two aces, and Mekynzi Beck and Mallory Falls with one block.
Norwell will host New Haven starting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28.
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