By BRAD BAUGHMAN, for The Democrat
This season’s Brown County High School varsity volleyball team may be light on experience, but it is heavy on depth and balance.
With only three seniors on the roster and eight of the 14 rostered players in the sophomore class, the Eagles recently completed a busy week of competition, relying heavily on their depth.
Coach Jessica Robertson readily admits, “We are an inexperienced varsity team because we only have one or two years of varsity experience out of everybody that is on that roster.”
But she feels that the youthfulness and the healthy competition it brings might just make up for the experience issue.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Robertson sees those players who split time between the junior varsity and varsity as “stepping up and giving those that were set on varsity a real run for their money; they make them earn their spot.”
In a home match with the South Decatur Cougars on Sept. 3, the Eagles relied on both the experience of their seniors, Natalie Suding, Lauren Akles and Abigail Angebrandt, and the energy and versatility of their youngsters to pull out a four-set victory, 25-18, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18.
After getting down 3-2 in the first set, Eagle sophomore Mary Rygiel converted on six consecutive serves to give the Eagles an 8-3 advantage. Behind left-side senior hitter Lana Bell, who found some creases in the Eagle defense, the Cougars stayed within striking distance of the Eagles and trailed 22-17.
Ultimately, Brown County sophomore middle hitter Abigail Watson put the set away with a clean kill.
A slow start in the second set saw the Eagles fall behind 10-5 as the Cougar hitters found some holes in the middle of the Eagle defense. Down 21-12, Brown County fought back behind the timely serving and floor play of sophomore Londyn Koester, but the Eagles eventually fell 25-22.
After a back-and-forth third set which the Eagles won 25-22, the team demonstrated great resolve when South Decatur scored the first six points of the fourth set and then pushed its lead to 13-7. The Cougar momentum was short-lived, though, as Abigail Bowman, the Eagles’ junior setter, ran off 13 consecutive service points to give her team a 20-13 advantage.
Robertson, who calls for the type and location of the serve from her seat on the bench, said, “Bowman hit every spot I called in those last few points.”
The set and the match ended on another Watson kill, her fifth of the evening. “Watson is a force to be reckoned with as well, when we can get her the ball,” Robertson said about her sophomore hitter.
Robertson was pleased with the win and satisfied that her two main objectives going into the match were met.
“I wanted to get everybody in. That was my first one. And then the second one was maybe playing people in different positions,” Robertson said. “Every person I subbed in contributed in some way. Leaning on those younger girls really gave us some fresh legs,” she added.
One set of those younger legs was from Emma Lucas. “Emma Lucas did a phenomenal job,” Robertson said of her sophomore who contributed six kills and some aggressive serving in a set-and-a-half of action.
Lauren Akles tallied 12 kills and five blocks to lead the Eagles in those categories, while Millie Patrick and Koester led the team in digs with 24 and 17, respectively. Bowman recorded 32 assists and five aces in the win.
Two days prior to the South Decatur victory, the Eagles snared a tough, five-set win from the visiting Owen Valley Patriots, 25-14, 25-21, 28-30, 21-25 and 15-12.
In the Brown County Invitational played Aug. 29, the Eagles defeated Indian Creek and Edinburgh before dropping the championship match to Bedford North Lawrence 15-25, 16-25.
The Eagles lost to an undefeated Greensburg team, 16-25, 15-25, 9-25, on Sept. 5 on the Pirates’ floor. “They were a good team with a couple standout hitters. We played well against a bigger team,” Robertson said.
As the 5-4 Eagles prepared for yet another hectic week of action, Robertson continued to rely on her three seniors for leadership and her underclassmen for energy and timely production.
Like all fall sports coaches, Robertson knows that COVID-19 could stop a season dead in its tracks and that the players should value every opportunity to play that they get. “Those seniors do a great job of keeping everybody in that mindset,” she said.
Robertson and her assistant, Daisha Holt, both speak highly of the character of the team.
“They’re just a fun group. With this group, they listen, they do everything we ask of them, and they’re just good girls,” Holt said.
“They get along. They like each other’s company and that helps to build some trust,” Robertson added.
The character and youthfulness of her team give Robertson every reason to believe Brown County High School volleyball is headed in the right direction.
“We are a force to be reckoned with in the future,” Robertson said.
If they keep improving as they have been, the future may not be so far away.
