Bishop volleyball races past Wesleyan
• Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
KERNERSVILLE — Bishop McGuinness continued to make strides as it raced past Wesleyan Christian.
The Villains built solid leads in each set and rolled past the Trojans 25-8, 25-19, 25-18 in nonconference volleyball Monday in Bishop’s Krispy Kreme Center.
“I’m just really proud of the girls,” said Bishop coach Shawn Jacobsen, who recently eclipsed 100 wins leading the program. “Everyone played tonight, and we had 10 players with kills tonight. That’s important to me — I like to have a balanced attack.
“It gives us some depth and some confidence in case someone goes down, because that’s happened to us in the playoffs before. Somebody goes down and everybody panics. But now that they can see other girls can score too, then hopefully we’ll avoid any of those panic situations in the playoffs.”
Jeanna Hauk had five kills, 18 assists, seven digs and three aces to lead the Villains (10-4), ranked No. 97 in the state overall and No. 4 in the NCHSAA 1A West by MaxPreps.
Emma Briody added 17 digs, six aces and five assists, while Chrisbel Alcantara, Olivia Moreau and Susanna Drake each had four kills. Finley Miller chipped in three blocks and a kill as Bishop won its eighth straight match.
“I think we played as a team tonight,” said Briody, a senior libero. “All of us were connected and talking and having fun, which I think contributed to the connection we were having.”
Bishop, which reached the fourth round of the state playoffs last year and the regional championship the season prior, jumped ahead with a flurry of points to quickly lead 9-1 to start the match.
The Villains stretched their lead to double digits at 15-5 and won the final five points of the set for their largest advantage. They led by 11 twice midway through the second set before the Trojans got as close as 22-19.
Bishop won the final three points to finish off the second and led by seven in the third before Wesleyan — highlighted by Karli Totel with five kills and an ace, plus Cate Barnwell with two kills and an ace — clawed within three.
The Trojans (2-8) were within 13-10 when the Villains, rotating in more subs later in the match, answered with a 7-1 spurt to lead 20-11. Bishop pushed its lead to nine twice more before it finished off the victory.
“I think it’s taken a few practices, but we do all get along really well,” Briody said. “It helps after a few practices and now we’re used to where each other is. And we’re constantly getting better.
“I think we’ve developed into a really good team where we’re at right now.”
Wesleyan will visit rival High Point Christian in NCISAA action Thursday, while the Villains, who have won their conference titles the last two years, will return to Northwest Piedmont 1A Conference play tonight at home against Bethany.
Bishop will host 4A foe Southwest Guilford on Sept. 26 and 1A power Uwharrie Charter on Oct. 3 in two key nonconference matchups prior to starting its playoff run.
“We’re really balanced,” Jacobsen said. “The girls have committed in practice, which is nice. That’s something we talk about a lot — we’re going to play how we practice. We’re practicing hard so they perform in the game, which they did today. We had a few errors today, but overall we did pretty well.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com | 336-888-3526 | @HPEmichael
• Michael Lindsay | Enterprise Sports Writer
KERNERSVILLE — Bishop McGuinness continued to make strides as it raced past Wesleyan Christian.
The Villains built solid leads in each set and rolled past the Trojans 25-8, 25-19, 25-18 in nonconference volleyball Monday in Bishop’s Krispy Kreme Center.
“I’m just really proud of the girls,” said Bishop coach Shawn Jacobsen, who recently eclipsed 100 wins leading the program. “Everyone played tonight, and we had 10 players with kills tonight. That’s important to me — I like to have a balanced attack.
“It gives us some depth and some confidence in case someone goes down, because that’s happened to us in the playoffs before. Somebody goes down and everybody panics. But now that they can see other girls can score too, then hopefully we’ll avoid any of those panic situations in the playoffs.”
Jeanna Hauk had five kills, 18 assists, seven digs and three aces to lead the Villains (10-4), ranked No. 97 in the state overall and No. 4 in the NCHSAA 1A West by MaxPreps.
Emma Briody added 17 digs, six aces and five assists, while Chrisbel Alcantara, Olivia Moreau and Susanna Drake each had four kills. Finley Miller chipped in three blocks and a kill as Bishop won its eighth straight match.
“I think we played as a team tonight,” said Briody, a senior libero. “All of us were connected and talking and having fun, which I think contributed to the connection we were having.”
Bishop, which reached the fourth round of the state playoffs last year and the regional championship the season prior, jumped ahead with a flurry of points to quickly lead 9-1 to start the match.
The Villains stretched their lead to double digits at 15-5 and won the final five points of the set for their largest advantage. They led by 11 twice midway through the second set before the Trojans got as close as 22-19.
Bishop won the final three points to finish off the second and led by seven in the third before Wesleyan — highlighted by Karli Totel with five kills and an ace, plus Cate Barnwell with two kills and an ace — clawed within three.
The Trojans (2-8) were within 13-10 when the Villains, rotating in more subs later in the match, answered with a 7-1 spurt to lead 20-11. Bishop pushed its lead to nine twice more before it finished off the victory.
“I think it’s taken a few practices, but we do all get along really well,” Briody said. “It helps after a few practices and now we’re used to where each other is. And we’re constantly getting better.
“I think we’ve developed into a really good team where we’re at right now.”
Wesleyan will visit rival High Point Christian in NCISAA action Thursday, while the Villains, who have won their conference titles the last two years, will return to Northwest Piedmont 1A Conference play tonight at home against Bethany.
Bishop will host 4A foe Southwest Guilford on Sept. 26 and 1A power Uwharrie Charter on Oct. 3 in two key nonconference matchups prior to starting its playoff run.
“We’re really balanced,” Jacobsen said. “The girls have committed in practice, which is nice. That’s something we talk about a lot — we’re going to play how we practice. We’re practicing hard so they perform in the game, which they did today. We had a few errors today, but overall we did pretty well.”
mlindsay@hpenews.com | 336-888-3526 | @HPEmichael
