They say to be the best you’ve got to beat the best.
That’s the lesson the Bradford volleyball team has learned firsthand in its two matchups against DuBois this season. The Lady Owls fell to the reigning District 9 Class AAA Champions in four sets on Thursday by the score of 25-21, 25-12, 21-25, 25-8.
Bradford (3-6) was defeated by the Lady Beavers just nine days ago when DuBois earned a three-set victory (25-15, 25-16, 25-18). And while last night’s loss wasn’t much consolation, Bradford coach Steve Daniels was pleased to see his team give the opposition more of a battle this time around.
“It was nice to take one (game) off them,” Daniels said. “They’re a solid team. I would be hard-pressed to put another team above them. We’re going to compete with them, but it’s getting to that next level of taking them down.”
From the start, DuBois showed why it’s one of the best teams in District 9. The Beavers’ positioning throughout the match was excellent, as the Owls rarely found many openings. Bradford also hurt itself in the first set with some poor service games.
DuBois was also showing proficiency at the net, tipping a number of balls over that the Owls were unable to get back over. But the Owls hung tough, never falling behind by more than a few points.
In the end, however, DuBois was able to limit its mental mistakes just a bit better than Bradford to take the first set.
The second set started out similarly close, with Bradford looking like the better team in the early going but unable to convert on several close shots.
With the score tied 8-8, it looked like it might be another hard-fought set. But DuBois would go on a scorching 10-0 run, gaining confidence with every point won and draining the Owls of some of their energy en route to an easy set win.
Bradford regrouped to keep things close in the early portion of the third set. Neither team looked especially sharp and neither was able to take control of the momentum.
Ultimately, a combination of good defense and fewer mental errors allowed the Owls to move ahead and hold off DuBois for a victory that extended the match.
“Our defense was huge tonight,” Daniels said. “They gave us the win in the third game and they were flying all over.”
Unfortunately, the Owls weren’t able to carry that same level of play over into the fourth set.
DuBois raced out to a 10-5 lead, and things only got worse for Bradford from there. Several sloppy mistakes by the Owls allowed the Beavers to salt the match away.
A number of Lady Owls had strong performances in the match: Laney Kahle notched 18 assists, two digs, and five blocks, while Alexis Huber finished with 13 kills, three service points, and six blocks. Elsewhere, Ashton Himes had eight kills, Brittany Rounsville had nine digs, and Alex Asp had seven blocks.
Despite the loss, Daniels believes playing such quality competition can only serve to benefit his team as it moves forward towards the latter part of the season.
“Our schedule’s no joke,” he said. “I love our league; it is a challenge every single night. To add DuBois to what we already face, it gets us ready for anything.”
The Lady Owls will be back in action at home on Tuesday when they host Punxsutawney.
