Buchanan sweeps Brandywine in hard-fought D3 district opener

Published 3:26 pm Tuesday, October 31, 2023

By Max Harden

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NILES  — The Buchanan volleyball team took care of business Monday against rival Brandywine in Division 3 District opening play.

The Bucks were able to advance to the semifinals with a 3-0 win over host Brandywine. The Bucks (27-7-1) advance to play Cassopolis at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Division 3 district semifinal play.

Buchanan won the game by set scores of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-17. The first two sets saw Buchanan overcome significant deficits to win.

“I thought we came into their home court and really stepped it up,” said Buchanan Coach Shelly Bossert. “It’s hard to come from behind on someone else’s home court. I just felt like we had to just regroup and just remember that we play as a team and once we relaxed I think that came out.”

“I think we played really hard. I’m super proud of them,” said Brandywine Coach Emily Zablocki-Kohler. “They left it all on the court and we made (Buchanan) earn most of their points. We fought back when we got down and I couldn’t ask for anything else; really great defense, we hit well. The seniors were great, we’re gonna miss them.”

Chloe Aalfs tallied 13 kills, 10 digs and two aces for Buchanan and Alyssa Carson had 15 kills while Sophia Bachman added 35 assists, seven digs and one block. Izzy Tibbles had three kills and Riley Capron and Laney Kehoe had eight and seven digs respectively. Laney Leno had one ace and Keegan may had two blocks.

“Bachman got to every ball and put it in the hands of Chloe Aalfs and Alyssa Carson so that we could get big kills,” Bossert said.

Kadence Brumitt led the Bobcats with 14 kills, 19 digs and two aces and Kallie Solloway had 12 kills and six digs. Nevaeh Mason had 12 digs and Chloe Parker added 10 while Ellie Knapp tallied 32 assists.

“Brumitt is always our go-to,” Zablocki-Kohler said. “We look for her to run our offense and get things done. She did a great job. (Julia Babcock and Niyah Mason) did a great job blocking balls at the net, at least slowing them down. We’re small, so we don’t put up a huge block but they did a nice job. Everybody served tough and Chloe Parker played fabulous defense.”

Bender was proud of the way her team overcame being down on the road against a rival.

“This whole season, we’ve overcome adversity,” Bender said. “We’ve had some people out with injuries, we’ve had new lineups a lot and so to have consistency when in a toxic environment is really hard to do and we did that when it really matters. I’m really excited for the next round because I think I just want them to continue playing how they’ve been playing tonight.”

With the loss, Brandywine ends its season with a 32-13-1 record.

“This is probably one of the greatest groups of girls I’ve ever coached,” Zablocki-Kohler said. “They all get along, they like to do things together. They all work hard but they like to have a good time too. It’s going to be sad to not have the majority of them back next year.”

The Bobcats graduate seven seniors from this year’s group. Zablocki-Kohler appreciates the precedent the seniors set for the program.

“I think they brought this will to win and to fight,” Zablocki-Kohler said. “The mindset that you should be serious but still be able to have a good time while you play and that camaraderie on the court but we all have our job to do. We can all work together to do that.”

 

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