AUSTIN
It took the Brownstown Central volleyball team nearly 45 minutes to put away Austin in a 25-15, 25-8, 25-9 road victory Thursday.
At the start of the match, the Eagles stayed with the Braves, keeping the score tied at 5-5.
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The Braves then went on to build a 15-13 lead before Morgan Wehmiller helped win five-straight points on serve to give her team the 20-13 advantage.
A block from Braves junior Brooke Meyer sealed the first game win.
“What you have to remember is, no matter who you play, everyone wants to beat Brownstown,” Braves coach Jennifer Shade said. “The first 10 points of the game, you’re going to play off of momentum and enthusiasm. We know if we don’t put the ball away in those first 10 points that a team is going to stay with us and then it falls a part after that. We had four out of five hitting errors puts you in a bad situation right at the bat. Once we settled down we started hitting the ball in the court and the adrenaline wore off.
“I was a little disappointed in our start because we can’t have that many errors right up front. You want to set the tone for the game. When you play those really good team, you can quickly dig yourself a hole and have to battle back.”
The Braves took command early in the second set, amassing a 9-2 lead.
Up 16-5, the Braves won six-straight points before putting the game away at 25-8.
Despite keeping the match close at 9-7 in the third game, the Eagles couldn’t muster but two more points the rest of the way.
The Braves (13-9) will host Seymour on Tuesday.
In the Brownstown Central Invitational earlier this fall, the Braves bested the Owls 25-18, 25-20.
“It’s a different type of ball game (against Seymour),” Shade said. “It’s such a rivalry and draws a big crowd. Everyone gets so fired-up for it and you play a little bit different type of volleyball. It’s going to be fun on our home court and of course they will want revenge since we beat them earlier in the year. We are going to take the day of (Friday) because I think that will benefit us more than if we practice, and then we will have a good practice on Monday.”