BROWNSTOWN—For the second time in five years, the Brownstown Central volleyball team is off to a 9-0 start.

In 2019 the Lady Braves started out 9-0 before falling to Bloomington South. Tuesday night the Braves played host to the Panthers and won 25-6, 25-15, 25-17.

Coach Jennifer Shade said she wanted her team to avoid a letdown after winning the Bloomington South Invitational on Saturday. That was the first time the Braves had won this tournament since 2019.

“These games make you a little bit nervous, because you want to make sure after coming off a big weekend that you stay ready,” she said. “We had some injuries this weekend, but you wouldn’t notice because we hid them, so I was a little concerned tonight how much we would move out there.

“Last week was such a big week for us. Not just winning wise, but also physically it was a big week, so I was concerned with the long weekend, coming here today that we would be a little flat, but no, I’m proud of the girls.

“They came out ready to play.”

The Braves scored a variety of ways to take a 6-0 lead in the first set.

Kills by Addison Darlage and Brailey Teipen made it a 2-0 score, an ace from Alex Davidson, followed by a block by Kinzee Dean set the score 6-0.

After a kill by South’s Maddie Miers, Teipen had two more kills, Sophie Wischmeier had a single kill, and a passing error by the Panthers made it a 12-1 score.

Finley Wheeler served two aces later in the match, and the set point came on a passing error by South.

In the second set, the Braves increased a 6-5 lead to 15-5 on a 9-0 run with Wischmeier having four kills during the rally.

The Braves were up 20-8 following a kill by Haley Derringer when the Panthers put together their best rally of the night, 6-0 before the Braves closed on a 5-1 spurt with Wischmeier getting four kills during that run.

Brownstown got off to a 6-0 start in the third set with Darlage, Teipen, and Wischmeier getting kills during that time.

Another kill by Wischmeier gave the Braves a 20-10 cushion. South went on a 6-1 run to make it 21-16 only to have the Braves close out the match on a 4-1 run with match point coming on an attacking error by the Panthers.

Derringer, a senior, specializes in being a right-side hitter.

“My responsibility is to shut down the outside hitter. I set up the block for the middle, and I pick up tips when the outside and middle are hitting.

“Depending on where the block is set up, I’ll hit down the line or across the middle, or just try to hit shots where they’re not. Usually, my backrow players will help me, they’ll call out where to hit.”

Derringer said it has taken teamwork to start out 9-0.

“We work really hard in practice, and during games we talk a lot about lifting each-other up. You play how you practice, practice how you play.

“We just need to work on pushing through, and not let them get on any runs, work together to shut them down.”

Shade said in the second and third sets, “we wanted to get some kids with some injuries out, and get some other kids in. We’re a team. Everybody contributes. Our serving has really come along.”

Wischmeier had 10 attack kills, and Teipen and Darlage both had six. Wheeler was 13-14-4 in serves.

The Braves, ranked No. 1 in Class 2A, will play at New Albany Thursday night and face some fierce competition Saturday in the Providence Invitational.

“We just want to have less and less lulls,” Shade said. “We go through a two-or-three-point spell where we might miss the ball, a serve. We just need to cut out those little lulls that we have where the other team has two or three points in a row. We want to learn how to stop those quicker.”

Brownstown Central 3, Bloomington South 0

Brownstown Central def. Bloomington South 25-6, 25-15, 25-17

Brownstown attacks- Sophie Wischmeier 19-25-10, Addison Darlage 15-15-6, Brailey Teipen 8-9-6, team 62-72-29

Serving- Finley Wheeler 13-14-4, Wischmeier 14-15-3, Alex Davidson 13-14-2, team 64-71-10

Junior varsity

Bloomington def. Brownstown 23-25, 26-24, 16-14

Brownstown attacks- Ella Nehrt 22-25-9, Emma Sparks 9-11-3, Isabella Rothert 6-7-4, team 51-61-20

Serving- Sparks 12-14-4, Charli Garrison 11-13-3, Lexi Zike 11-12-1, team 58-63-10