The Bradford volleyball team settled in after a game two loss to defeat Ridgway 3-1 (25-18, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23) on Tuesday night in District 9 Laurel League action.
The win is Bradford’s second straight, and is the team’s first at home.
“I loved that in the three sets that we won, we passed the ball perfectly,” Bradford head coach Steven Daniels said. “We wanted to pass the ball perfectly, and when that happened, our middles finally got involved. I can’t say enough about my seniors, too, because they came to play tonight. It was a great home win.”
The seniors certainly did show up in a big way. Erica Marshall landed all 16 of her serves in play, and added five kills, an assist and a block, along with five clean passes. Meanwhile, setter Laney Kahle had six kills, 19 assists and eight blocks up front. In addition, Sarie Yohe had four kills and a block.
“They’re the way seniors are supposed to be,” Daniels said of his leaders.
Controlling the net also loomed large for Bradford, as the team finished with 15 blocks on the evening, along with 27 kills.
In game one, the Owls quickly fell behind 4-1 before they went on an 11-4 run to take a 12-8 lead and force a Ridgway timeout.
But the Owls maintained that momentum out of the break, and extended their lead to 19-13 to force another Elker timeout.
Once again, Bradford seized momentum out of the break to finish the Elkers off for the 25-18 game one victory.
“I told them to keep doing what they’ve been doing — pass the ball and run the offense,” Daniels said of his conversations with the Owls during the timeouts. “When we run the offense, it’s hard to get the ball back. We just had to do our jobs.”
Ridgway rebounded in game two for a 25-19.
Bradford raced out to a 4-0 lead, but Ridgway went on a 9-2 run to take a 9-6 advantage afterward. The teams battled back and forth before Bradford went on its own small spurt to re-tie the game at 12.
Following a Ridgway timeout, the Elkers went on another big run, this time an 11-3 stretch, to take a 23-15 lead. Bradford battled back briefly, but ultimately fell in game two, 25-19.
However, the Owls responded by winning the next two games, both of which were back-and-forth. Bradford took game three, 25-20, and game four, 25-23.
“There really weren’t many adjustments (after game two),” Daniels said. “For the most part, the girls did what they had to do. Their form was off, and they got it back for the third and fourth.”
In game three, neither team seemed poised to take early momentum as the Elkers and Owls traded points to stay deadlocked at 4-4 early on.
Then, the teams each went on their own small runs, and remained tied at 15-15.
But Bradford managed to outpace the Elkers 10-5 down the stretch to take the 25-20 game three victory.
In game four, it was all Bradford early on, as the Owls jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead. But Ridgway battled back to knot the game up at 10-10 and force an Owl timeout.
That timeout worked for Bradford, as the Owls responded by jumping out to a 17-12 advantage.
But the Elkers went back on their own run to tie things up at 22-22 entering the match’s deciding moments.
But, with Yohe serving, the Owls managed to win three of the game’s final four points to win 25-23 and take the match, 3-1.
The Owls have a quick turnaround, as they head to Johnsonburg Thursday for a road match.
“We’re expecting everything but the kitchen sink with Johnsonburg,” Daniels said. “Ridgway took them five (games), but that was in Ridgway. I’m expecting fireworks on Thursday.”
The match begins with junior varsity first at 6 p.m., with varsity to follow.
