Niles rallies to top South Bend St. Joseph

Published 7:41 am Wednesday, September 11, 2019

By SCOTT NOVAK

scott.novak@leaderpub.com

NILES — A valuable lesson was learned by the No. 10-ranked Niles volleyball team Monday night.

No matter how bleak things may look, if you put all your energy and effort into something, the results might be surprising.

The Vikings trailed visiting South Bend St. Joseph 0-2 and were coming off of a 25-9 loss in the second set. The message from head coach Jenny Nate was simple.

“When these girls play with energy and heart, I truly believe they can beat anyone,” she said. “That was the message. Play with energy and heart and see what happens.”

What happened was Niles won the third set 25-13. The Vikings followed that up with a 25-20 win in the fourth to tie up the match and send it to a fifth and final set.

Niles completely dominated the Indians in the fifth set, winning 15-5 to complete the comeback and take the 3-2 victory in its home opener.

“I am so proud of their ability to fight back, keep their composure and play together as a team,” Nate said. “They play for each other and give 100 percent effort day in and day out. I’m so proud of them tonight and every day and look forward to seeing them keep improving.”

The Vikings turned to its seniors in the time of crisis and they delivered in the clutch.

Zoie Appleberry, Nikki Nate, Bianca Pickens, Grace Florkowski and Taylor Bailey came up big when Niles needed them to.

For Bailey, who missed Saturday’s tournament in Battle Creek due to illness, it was an opportunity to get back onto the court and help her team out.

“Basically, it was that we have to keep playing our game and not be timid,” she said. “That is what we were playing like. As soon as we started playing our game, we picked up the energy and we dominated.”

And how important was it to get back into the lineup?

“I was so ready,” she said. “You have no idea. I was ready to swing and dominate.”

Bailey led the team in kills with 12, while she also had five blocks. Nate had nine kills, six blocks and eight digs. Appleberry led the team in points with 13 to go along with five kills, a block and seven digs.

Pickens finished the night with 10 points and a team-high 14 digs. Florkowski added six points, a kill, 13 digs and 20 setting assists.

Moving forward, Bailey agreed with her coach that how the Vikings played the final three sets is how they need to approach each match.

“I think we need to learn to play like this every set. Every game,” Bailey said. “This is how we know we can play now. We take this and move forward.”

Niles will get a chance to test that theory tonight as they open SMAC West Division play at St. Joseph.