Braves a step away from eighth state appearance

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Brownstown Central volleyball coach Jennifer Shade sees a lot of similarities between her girls and the top-ranked Evansville Memorial Tigers.

The aggressive serving, the stingy blocking, the powerful hitting, the list goes on and on. 

"I can see why we’re ranked No. 1 and No. 2," Shade said, "because we do have a lot of similarities."

This is familiar territory for Shade, who has reached the volleyball state championship game seven times during her tenure at Brownstown Central.

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While some coaches might want to stick to their normal practice routine, Shade changes it up because, as she joked, she’s a chicken.

"I would rather go into the semistate with healthy kids that have strong shoulders and strong legs versus taking a risk of an injury," Shade explained. "While we still do a lot of team things, we do it without the risks of getting hurt. So, practices seem a little bit slower than they have been.

"It’s not to say we’re not working as hard, we’re just working on specifics and less on game-like situations where we could get injured." 

One of the biggest concerns for the Braves is going to be Tatum Tornatta, who is Memorial’s biggest attacking and defending menace at the net.

The 5-foot-11-inch senior has 376 kills this season and 52 blocks to pace the Tigers in both categories. 

Yet, much like the Braves, they have more than just one threat to earn points. 

Fellow seniors Emily Weinzapfel and Alyssa Blessinger have more than 100 kills this season with Weinzapfel right at 300. 

Having a diverse attack is one of the biggest differences Shade sees between her team and the Tigers.

Memorial won’t deal with a trio of BC attackers, they’ll have to fend off a whole host of Braves that have shown to score every set.

Five different Braves have at least 125 kills this year with junior Kendra McCory leading them all with 294. 

Seniors Keeli Darlage and Addie Wilkerson have 263 and 189, respectively, and juniors Kayla Guthrie and Jennifer Pence have 172 and 125, respectively. 

Setter Reagan Nuss has also shown the ability to sneak in a kill or two. She’s got 62 for the year. 

Shade says the attack, however, is going to have to change a bit to avoid the strong blockers the Tigers have up front.

"We’re good enough and versatile enough that we can move our hitters and run plays in front of other blockers," Shade said. "Our offense changes just a little bit, but [Reagan Nuss] knows the game plan and we have so many different options we can run."

According to Shade, another difference between the two teams is the way they go after points. 

BC likes to run a quick-paced, through-the-middle offense while the Tigers throw the ball up to their big outside hitters. Shade said that’s a much slower offense to run and it should be easier to set up and defend. 

The Tigers are also one of the more prolific serving teams the Braves will face this season. Six different seniors have double-digit aces this year with five totaling at least 35 for the season. Ainsley Neighbors has the team lead with 49. 

Neighbors, the team’s setter, has 809 assists. 

Memorial’s aggressive serving isn’t anything Shade is losing sleep over though.

"They do have a strong serving team, but, however, our passers are phenomenal this year," Shade said. "Does that scare me? No, and on the flip side we serve just as aggressive and it could be a serving battle between the two teams."

Unlike past postseason matchups, the Tigers have played more common opponents with the Braves. Both BC and Memorial have played Jasper, Silver Creek, Jeffersonville and Brebeuf Jesuit this year.

Memorial is 4-0 against those opponents, dropping a set to Brebeuf, while BC is 5-0 and dropped just a set to the Dragons. 

Brownstown Central played Silver Creek twice this season.

Having common opponents didn’t really help Shade and her staff as they prepare to tame the Tigers this Saturday. Though they’ve watched a lot of film, the point she continues to drive home is to keep playing their game and keep refining their skills. 

She also mentioned the strong Jackson County presence for Saturday, but hopes they’ll be able to bring an even stronger one to Muncie the following weekend. 

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