BROWNSTOWN

Brownstown Central High School’s volleyball team hasn’t dropped a set through its first two matches of the 2018 season.

Coming off a 3-0 win over Eastern (Pekin), a Mid-Southern Conference victory, Class 3A No. 6 Brownstown looked to dominate in its first home match of the season.

The Braves didn’t disappoint their crowd.

Brownstown treated its fans to a 25-13, 25-12, 25-20 victory over Bloomington North on Thursday.

In the opening set, the Braves built a 15-5 lead before taking the 1-0 lead.

Leading 12-7 in the second, Riley Nuss served up five straight winning points to give BC a 10-point lead. The Braves continued to widen the gap until a kill from Addie Wilkerson closed the set at 25-12.

After winning the first five points to open the third set, the Braves never looked back as they moved to 2-0 on the season.

“We are running a little bit of a quicker offense than we’ve ran over the past few years,” Braves coach Jennifer Shade said. “We’ve sped things up a little bit. Our back court play, our defense and passing, is just spot on right now. It makes it easier to get the ball to the hitters and put the ball away quick.

“Defensively, this is probably one of the best teams I’ve had. They’re not letting balls drop. Not only that, but they’re getting after it in their passing, too. That makes you have a great offense.”

Reagan Nuss led the Braves with five aces and Keeli Darlage had four. Darlage topped the Braves’ attack at eight kills, Kendra McCory added six and Wilkerson totaled four.

Shade said she has a good group of kids this season.

“The kids all get along, which is outstanding,” Shade said. “We’ve had some kids that have taken on new roles. They have accepted those roles and been really excited about it. We started Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and these kids are in a club outside of volleyball and are helping lead that club.  They’re becoming great young ladies. When you have class, you play with class. I think that speaks for these kids.”

At the conclusion of the game, the Braves invited attendees to pray on the court with the team. The circle encompassed the entire basketball court. Shade said over 100 kids attended the FCA meeting on Thursday morning at BCHS.

The Braves will play a pair of matches on Saturday, as they face Clarksville and Charlestown, at Clarksville,on Saturday.