By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

BROOKVILLE — In the Southwest Division III Sectional Volleyball Tournament, the fifth seed Versailles swept 18th seed Middletown Madison, 3-0, on Oct. 21 at Brookville High School.

The Lady Tigers started out a bit slow and committed a few early hitting errors. Head coach Liz McNeilan said this start was similar to the start in their first tournament game.

“I think we’re a little scared to make errors right at beginning. That aggressiveness turns into missing the court by about two feet. We jump a little higher, swing a little faster I think we get that ball in going across the court,” McNeilan said.

Versailles won the first two set, 25-14 and 25-19. It took awhile for the team to get on track.

In that second set, the team committed a few too many errors to let Madison hang around. McNeilan said she is fine with the team missing some of their hits deep because that means they are still being aggressive.

“We work everyday in practice hitting the corners. They’re being aggressive. I much rather have them missing two feet deep than missing short and into the net,” McNeilan said.

The team didn’t leave much room for a comeback as they won the third set, 25-10. They did play most of the set without senior libero Brooke Briscoe. She left the set after a small injury. Briscoe returned late in the set after she was patched up.

McNeilan said she is proud of the team for powering through the slow start and getting on track. She also said players like juniors Ava Shardo and Taylor Wagner and senior Mia Eversole stepped up and showed the progress they made in practice in the game.

The team also benefited from having a senior still be on their sideline that has experienced a deep tournament run. Senior Cassie Bomholt has been out this season after dealing with an injury in the spring.

Bomholt started to play better and better during the Lady Tigers run to the State semifinals last season. McNeilan said Bomholt has been a leader ever since the start of the season.

“She’s a leader in the locker room, a leader on the sidelines. She’s talking to the girls all the time. She jumps in every drill at practice, whether she can toss,” McNeilan said. “I’m super proud of her. That’s not an easy thing to do espceially as a senior. We’ve seen emotions from her at times. But my golly, has she worked her tail off.”

The Lady Tigers will go up against the fourth seed in Arcanum on Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. at Brookville. McNeilan said she expects the talented squad in Arcanum to come out ready to play in that one.

While the team has only one practice to prepare for Arcanum, the Lady Tigers have been practicing some different things in case they go up against certain teams.

The team does focus on who they have next, but also work to prepare for potential opponents whoever they may be. McNeilan said the team has been focusing on taking games one point at a time while balancing practicing against different looks and styles they could encounter.

“Every point matters. In practice, we’ve been focusing on every point. But we’ve been incorporating things that we know, hopefully if we continue our run, that we’re going to see in teams that we’re going to face soon,” McNeilan said.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]