BRODHEAD — The season is still young, but something might be brewing for the Brodhead Cardinals on the volleyball court. The youthful squad swept Clinton in three sets Sept. 12 thanks to a mix of talent, balance and the building of confidence.
“We were still throwing different lineups in until just recently, so even settling into a lineup is probably our biggest growth,” coach Erin Kammerer said after Brodhead’s 25-16, 25-21, 25-11 Rock Valley opening win. “We have a lot more growing yet to come. I’m hoping that from conference match to conference match we find something to get better at. If we could ever tempo-pass, we should be fun to watch. But that’s got to come — and hopefully sooner rather than later.”
Already sporting strong net play with senior Katie Goecks and juniors Sabrina Siegel and Bailey Matthys, the Cardinals have added a couple of freshmen to their lineup — another heavy hitter in Abbie Dix, setter Alexis Kammerer and defensive specialist Kaidynce Bevars.
“They’re new, so when it comes to out-of-system they are kind of frantic,” Goecks said of the freshmen. “But they are just as good as the older kids. They are doing great, and they’ll get even better. By the end of the season you won’t be able to pinpoint who is a freshman and who’s a senior.”
If we could ever tempo-pass, we should be fun to watch. But that’s got to come — and hopefully sooner rather than later.Brodhead coach Erin Kammerer
Dix, also the tallest player on the team, didn’t take long to leave an impression on the Cougars — or the crowd. The games first point came on a heavy spike kill from Dix, who then got a touch kill moments later for the second point.
By the end of the match, the Cougars had no strategy to avoid Dix, who was blocking shots at the net and slammed home a few more for good measure. She finished the night with 12 kills.
“She did a great job stepping out, and she’s got so much more to offer. I like her aggressiveness; it’s definitely going to be good for us,” coach Kammerer said.
Dix also impressed at the service line — as did the rest of the Cardinals. She was 9/10 serving with an ace in the first set.
“I was nervous at first, but once I got into it, it was really exciting and fun,” Dix said.
The opening frame was a back and forth battle until midway through. Leading 11-10, Dix slammed home a kill and Madisyn Kail tipped back another to put Brodhead up by three. With Dix at the service line, the Cardinals wrung off seven points in a row to go up 18-10 and never looked back.
The second set began similar to the first set, and Clinton held a 15-14 lead midway through. Then Goecks laid home a spike to even the score. After the Cougars failed to return a volley, Kail sent home an ace to put her team up 17-15. A deep serve gave Clinton a point, but the Cardinals went right back to work, with Alexis Kammerer and Kail scoring a block at the net, then Siegel hammering back-to-back aces to make it 20-16.
“It was a tug-o-war with momentum,” Goecks said. “We’d get a great serve, and then we’d lose it. We’d have a lead, then we’d lose it, then we got it back. Luckily, we were able to push through in that second set with a lot of people stepping up.”
Clinton roared all the way back with five-straight points to take a 21-20 lead, but Brodhead again regained focus and scored the final five points to go up 2-games to 1.
“I think it took us (two sets) to settle in. We’ve got a mix of kids out on the floor and our first home match — the excitement was coming through the volleyball. We just weren’t ourselves,” coach Kammerer said. “We saw glimmers — even in that third set — of greatness.”
It was a tug-o-war with momentum. We’d get a great serve, and then we’d lose it. We’d have a lead, then we’d lose it, then we got it back. Luckily, we were able to push through in that second set with a lot of people stepping up.Brodhead senior Katie Goecks
The third set was more of a laugher, with Clinton down-and-out emotionally. Brodhead went up 4-0 and then led 11-2, during which time the Cougars blew through both timeouts. The closest Clinton would get again was 12-7, but the Cardinals ran off a 13-4 run to close the match with many of the bench players entering the fray.
“Our back row passed much better and got it to where the setter could set all three hitters instead of just one option or two. It involved the middle and kept the tempo much fast in the game,” Goecks said.
Siegel, Goecks and Dix each finished with three aces. The Cardinals had 12 aces in all and served at 93.2% in the match.
Goecks had seven kills, while Bailey Matthys had five and Siegel four. Alexis Kammerer had 32 assists, while Catherine Speckman dug out 12 balls. Goecks and Dix each had six digs, with Kammerer adding another five.
“We have a lot of strong hitters this year. We don’t rely on just one person; we rely on the whole front row. We are able to not just go to the middle or the outside, we can kind of throw it wherever,” Goecks said.
