By SARAH COCHRAN, for the Brown County Democrat
Brown County High School volleyball teams rallied in their second match of the season to sweep the courts with JV and varsity wins over rivals, the Edgewood Mustangs.
In their first home match Aug. 19 in the Larry C. Banks Memorial Gymnasium, the varsity team came out strong with a score of 25-13 in the first set. The Eagles followed up with two more wins, scoring 25-16 in the second set and 25-10 in the third, to take the match 3-0.
Earlier that morning, the JV volleyball team set the tone with two straight wins to take the match. They won the first set 25-11 and the second 25-13.
Varsity Coach Julie Owens was encouraged by the team’s performance.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]“We took what was given to us today and made the best of it, and obviously, that really panned out for us,” she said.
“These girls have worked really hard the past two years to overcome a lot of growing pains that we’ve had, and they’re finally seeing the success that comes.”
Owens said the outlook for this season of volleyball is positive.
“It does my heart good; it’s just nice to see a group of people really feel good about all of the work that they’ve put in,” she said.
She talked about how proud she is of her older girls for staying calm and keeping things together on the court. Their adaptability and skill proved to be an advantage to the team.
“My setters, Maggie (Redmond) and Abigail (Hollander), did a great job of understanding that they had some different people in there, and they really adapted to that,” she said.
Brown County volleyball has endured some changes in the roster and player positions over the past couple of seasons, but the coaches are encouraged by the growth they are seeing as a result.
Owens is enthusiastic about the versatility of her players and their willingness to work together and do what it takes to win.
“Overall, the team just really worked well with each other, which just shows how deep we are and how well we work with whoever is on the court,” she said.
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Tuesday, Aug. 29 at Owen Valley, 6 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 31 at South Decatur, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 2 at Greensburg, 10 a.m.
Thursday, Sept. 7 vs. Eastern (Pekin), 6 p.m.
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Varsity: Madalyn Allen (senior), Evey Crimmins (junior), Haley Davidson (sophomore), Mekenzie Dunnuck (junior), Trinity Keefauver (sophomore), Shea Keller (junior), Baelyn Koester (junior), Abigail Hollander (sophomore), Chloe Lee (sophomore), Grace Lee (senior), Olivia Lee (senior), Hallee Miller (senior), Marley Nickels (sophomore), Kaitlyn Pearson (senior), Maggie Redmond (junior).
Junior varsity: Lauren Akles (freshman), Abigail Angebrandt (freshman), Madison Bickley (junior), Addison Branson (sophomore), Whitney Clark (sophomore), Kylie Herald (freshman), Trinity Keefauver (sophomore), Marley Nickels (sophomore), Natalie Suding (freshman), Macee Terry (freshman)
Coaches: Julie Owens and Dean Keefauver
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