Coach Janet VanLiew says there are a lot of things she likes about her Trinity Lutheran volleyball team, and at the top of the list is the number of attackers she has to work with.

Eight different Cougars had at least one kill Thursday night when the Cougars defeated Christian Academy of Indiana 25-12, 25-14, 25-14 in the Bollinger Athletic Complex.

“We’ve really been working on hitting different shots, taking what the block gives you, and I thought we did a much better job of that,” VanLiew said.

“I thought we played at a consistently high level, not as high as we would like, but at a consistently high level no matter who we had in there, which is impressive because with 14 players that is a lot of subbing. I thought those kids all came in and did what needed to be done, which is pretty exciting for the program and for those kids.”

Ava Blomenberg, Carson Bowling, and Madison Keith had attacks early in the first set as the Cougars took a 5-1 lead.

With Trinity leading 6-3, Rachel Bonde, Keith and Bailey Bonde had kills on five consecutive points to increase the lead to 12-3. Keith had three of those kills.

Trinity went on a 5-0 run late in the first set with Addison Darlage serving two aces, and Rachel Bonde had a kill for set point.

Trinity built up an 11-3 lead in the second set on a kill by Rachel Bonde. Trinity was leading 12-5 when Christian Academy put together its best rally of the night with four straight points to set the score 12-9.

Blomenberg had a kill to stop the Warriors’ rally and Trinity outscored the visitors 12-5 the rest of the set with Keith serving an ace for set point.

In the third set, a kill by Blomenberg gave Trinity an 8-4 lead, a kill by Sammie Brown set the score 12-6, a kill by Bella Wehmiller put the Cougars on top 21-11, and Darlage and Bowling had kills for the last two points of the match.

Bowling and Rachel Bonde were 9-10-6 and Blomenberg was 9-10-5 in attacks.

The Cougars missed a few more serves than VanLiew would have liked, although Marley Warren was 12-12-2, Maddie Adams was 9-9 and Keith was 10-11-1 in serves.

“We are serving aggressively, but we’ve got to make sure that that there is not too much of a trade-off where we miss serves,” VanLiew said. “I thought the third set was much better, more aggressive and less missed serves so that’s where we need to be.”

Blomenberg said, “I just think we had a lot of high energy. I thought that helped carry us. I thought everyone that stepped in in the third set did a nice job.

“I think we have a lot of versatility on our team, which is really good. Anyone you set the ball to can get a kill.”

Blomenberg said in practice, “We have to work on keeping our energy alive, and make sure we have enough energy for our tougher games, too.”

Trinity won at Center Grove Monday and Blomenberg said that enthusiasm carried over to Thursday night.

“The Center Grove game had us on a high and if we can keep that going, we’ll be in a good spot.”

The Cougars are 3-2 heading into Saturday’s home match against Westfield. The C team match will start at 9 a.m.

VanLiew talked about the progress of her team.

“Our attacking is much more efficient. We did a lot of good things (at Providence), but they didn’t terminate as well. Our ball control is really good.”

Westfield is coached by Emily Stout Jackson, a graduate of Seymour High School, and one of the Westfield players is the daughter of Brownstown Central graduate Kristen Wischmeier.

Trinity Lutheran 3, Chrisitan Academy 0

Trinity Lutheran def. Christian Academy 25-12, 25-14, 25-14.

Individual Statistics

Serve-Total-Aces

Serving: Marley Warren 12-12-2, Maddie Adams 9-9, Madison Keith 10-11-1, Presley Meyer 4-4, Bella Wehmiller 4-4

Attempts-Total-Kills

Attacks: Carson Bowling 9-10-6, Rachel Bonde 9-10-6, Ava Blomenberg 9-10-5, Addie Darlage 5-6-3, Bella Wehmiller 4-4

Assists: Darlage 26, Wehmiller 6;

Blocks: R. Bonde 5, Keith 2, Darlage 2, B. Bonde 2;

Digs: Laura Roeder 16, Darlage 6