Vikes battle Rivet to 3-1 win
Aug. 24—VINCENNES — The Barr-Reeve Viking volleyball team (4-0) may not need to worry about Vincennes Rivet at sectional anymore, but the road to a Blue Chip Championship still requires beating the Lady Pats.
And that was no easy task on Tuesday.
Rivet took the opening game and played a close second game, but B-R proved too much in the final two games to win 3-1.
"Oh my, Jill (Ballinger) does an excellent job with Rivet and, and Nos. 10 and 20 (the Herman sisters), they're phenomenal. They can hit any ball they put up, they are very, very good on the block and, you know they they made us earn every point that that we scored," said coach Amber DeCoursey.
"Emma Wagler was great and we were helped when Hannah Bledsoe got going was the key. I thought Hannah Swartzentruber was solid force as always."
The Vikes found themselves down 5-2 and 6-3, however an ace from Emma Wagler, a kill from Lanie Graber and Dylan DeCoursey helped shift the momentum as B-R tied it at eight-all.
Rivet took an 11-9 lead with help from Rivet's 6-4 and 6-2 Anna and Mary Herman.
With Dylan DeCoursey serving, B-R tied it at 12, a monster kill from Wagler gave B-R the lead. Rivet continued to battle and took a19-17 lead and went up 21-19. Hannah Bledsoe tied it with a tip at the net at 21-all, but Rivet came back to win 25-23. It was the first game B-R has lost to Rivet in several years.
B-R took a 3-1 lead to open Game 2. Emma Wagler posted a kill, and then helped serve to a 6-2 lead. The Vikes made it 10-6 after a kill from Hannah Swartzentruber, but again Rivet tied it at10 and 13. Game 2 remained tight but a Karter Burris kill gave B-R the 21-17 lead. Rivet got as close as 22-24, but a Wagler gave B-R the win, 25-22.
Game 3 started close, but B-R moved out a 6-3 lead. Bledsoe made 8-3 while Wagler served all the way to 10-4.They extended it to 15-5. Bledsoe added the 20th point and VU recruit Dylan DeCoursey made it 23-10 before winning 25-10 and giving them the third game as the Vikes made it 3-1, while a DeCoursey kill pushed it to 8-3. B-R made it 14-4 and with Willow Thompson serving moved out to 18-4 and then 22-7, as Wagler finished it off with an ace to make 25-9.
DeCoursey led with 18 kills, while Wagler had 12 and 23 assists, and Colleen Trambaugh had 30 digs.
In the JV game, B-R won 25-9 and 25-23. B-R plays Linton on Thursday.
