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NILES — Veteran Buchanan Coach Shelly Bossert felt her team was a bit tight to start the Division 3 District Volleyball Tournament championship match against Bridgman at Brandywine High School Thursday night.

The Bucks dropped the opening set to the Bees 25-21, but rebounded to take the next three sets to successfully defend their district championship with the 3-1 victory.

Buchanan (32-7) defeated Bridgman 25-11, 25-18 and 25-20 in the final three sets to advance to Tuesday’s Division 3 Regional semifinals at Bronson High School against Kalamazoo Christian. That match will begin at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Host Bronson will take on Homer in the first semifinal at 5:30 p.m. The championship match is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday.

“A very slow start,” Bossert said. “I think we were nervous because when you are favored to win, that was a lot of pressure. I think because we haven’t played with any type of consistent line up due to injuries, we are still a little bit out of sync. So, I think when we dropped that first set, we’re not used to that and so I think that lit a fire under them.”

Bossert added the fear of not improving their play and what could be the final result — not winning the title — proved to be enough motivation for the Bucks.

Buchanan also had numerous service errors, which is out of the norm for the Bucks. But while there was inconsistency with serving early on, Buchanan turned to its powerful front line and its defense to get them right back in the match.

“I think it was the adjustment to Tatyanna [Hill],” Bossert said. “Wherever she was, we put Alyssa [Carson] against her so she could block her. And, where ever Tatiana was, we had Alyssa hit around her.”

Carson would end the night with a team-high 16 kills and four blocks.

The Bucks also got 13 kills and a pair of blocks from Chloe Aalfs, but it was the play of Adi Dombrowski, that drew the most praise from Brossert. Dombrowski finished with four kills and a pair of blocks.

“Adi Dombrowski really came through for us when we really needed a point,” she said. “I think everyone always expects us to go to our big hitters. So, our middles, we talked where there would be openings, she listened and she got some easy kills which was important for us.”

Brossert also was happy with the Bucks’ backrow play.

“Laney Kehoe controls the back row,” she said. “She can read the ball really well. Riley Capron and Emily Holt brings a lot of energy back there and they get the tips. It [the back row] is really important to us because our block isn’t always the best. So, we are really good at picking up the ball.”

Sophia Bachman kept the offense humming for Buchanan over the final three sets and ended the match with 38 assists. She also had three aces and a pair of blocks.

While there is not a lot of time before playing in the regional semifinals on Tuesday, Brossert knows it is important for her team to take a short pause, and recuperate.

“Basically, we only have a couple of days to prepare for the next match, but they’ve all been pretty sick this week, so they need a break, but we are still going to need to tweak some things and I think we really haven’t peaked yet.”