By RYAN WALKER
Bluffton’s volleyball team earned its first win of the season with a 3-1 victory over Blackford (2-6) at the Tiger Den Tuesday night.
The two schools competed closely all night despite the Tigers (1-5) controlling the lead for most of the night. Last year, the Bruins got the best of the Tigers on their home floor in a five-set battle, and that itch to get them back had head coach Stacy Morrison’s team ready to play.
“It’s very nice to get the first win out of the way,” Morrison said. “(Blackford) took us last year, and we wanted it this year, so we’re excited about that.”
In the first two sets, the Tigers won 25-20 and 25-18 and were right on the doorstep with a 24-19 lead during a neck-and-neck third set. Blackford, however, took a few mistakes from their opponent and turned it into a five-point swing to tie the game. After Morrison used a timeout, the Bruins sealed the comeback with a 26-24 win to stay alive.
Morrison thought the team’s tempo dropped in the third set, perhaps due to the comfort of a 2-0 advantage, and said she would use that as a learning experience to play more consistently throughout the entire game.
In set four, the team did just that and won by its largest margin at 25-12.
“We’re going to count it as a learning experience because they came back and went pretty hard, and we beat them pretty easily in that last set,” Morrison said. “We’ll look at it as a lesson or just learning that they can get beat and come back strong. So that’s what I’m going to take from that third set.”
Bluffton graduated four seniors from last year’s team that had significant roles. The Tigers are young with just three seniors and lost five in a row to begin the 2023 campaign.
Against Blackford, the team played its best game of the year with a faster pace and learning how to play a full game. Morrison noted the hitting, blocking, digs, and passing were better on Tuesday.
The trait she believes is the best, and will help build a stronger team during this year, is that the chemistry with one another is high, and the girls have a blast playing together. The talent is imminent and Morrison is excited to see it all come together.
“I think this team is great as far as gelling, and they just continue to gel, and then we’ve just got to put all those pieces together,” Morrison said. “It seems like, once our hittings are on, our passing might be off. Just putting all of our components together because this team is talented and they have the capability to be very good, but they are just always missing one piece. We just need to bring it together.”
Stat leaders of the night were Maryn Schreiber with 21 kills and six stuff blocks, Haley Gibson with 36 assists, Konley Ault with four aces and six stuff blocks, and Marly Drayer with 30 digs.
The junior varsity team lost in two games. Leaders were Ella Borror with eight assists and three aces, Isla Gibson with nine kills, and Addison Gehring with 10 digs.
Bluffton will host Churubusco with junior varsity starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, with varsity to follow.
sports@news-banner.com
