Sterling barrage too much for Metamora

METAMORA – Unlike in years past, Sterling and Metamora didn’t play each other at the Sterling Invite.

The Redbirds dodged the bullets of Sterling’s barrage of attacks then, but they couldn’t escape the Golden Warriors in a 25-15, 25-12 score in a 3A Metamora Sectional semifinal at Randall Toepke Gymnasium.

Still, Sterling at least saw glimpses of the Redbirds in action at the Oct. 5 invitational, and knew who to key on when the playoffs came.

Back then, the Golden Warriors (32-6) were just getting to full strength in junior hitter Brook Borum’s first matches back from a suspension.

“We saw some things, but we’re talking back in mid-September. You look at us from mid-September to now, we’re a completely different team,” Dykeman said.

Sterling now has won 16 of 17 matches and 32 of 34 sets after throwing down 30 kills as a team. Brook Borum led Sterling with 16 kills, a few days after putting down the same number in the regional final.

Her twin sister, Brook Borum, added seven kills.

Metamora (26-11) could only muster nine kills of its own.

“We came out and played one of our best games of volleyball, and just kept pushing,” Brook said. Everything was working for us.”

The Golden Warriors broke away from a 4-2 lead in the first set by reeling off eight straight points for a 12-2 advantage. Brook began the string with her third kill, and after a Redbird net violation, freshman hitter Grace Egan pounded two kills from the left corner for an 8-2 lead.

Both teams scored 13 points from 12-2 to set’s end; eight Metamora points came on Sterling errors. The Redbirds got their first kill at their 10th point, but only after Sterling reached 20.

“We probably should have made fewer errors and mistakes,” Bree Borum said, “but I think overall, we did real well and played as a team.”

Sterling once more soared out to a 12-2 lead in the second set. Bree Borum had three kills in an opening string that saw the Golden Warriors score the first six points.

Metamora narrowed the deficit to seven points after its only three-point run of the match. Kim Jones opened it with a kill and a pair of Sterling errors made it 19-12.

Those errors were Sterling’s last, and they closed with six straight points. Bree Borum had her seventh and final kill for the 20th point, and Brook Borum followed with her 14th kill. Egan then served up an ace, and the Redbirds erred on an attack to get two points closer to the finish.

Brook Borum got her next kill unexpectedly; Bree Borum attacked from the left corner, and the dig shot nearly parallel to the floor across the net toward Brook Borum, who quickly threw her hand into attack mode to set up match point.

“I just saw her go up and I didn’t know she was going to hit it,” Brook Borum said. “I just went up too, and it just happened in our favor.”

Egan finished with four kills; Kierra Collins and Grace Gould each added three more. Bree Borum had 26 assists, and Lexi Rodriguez led with 16 digs. The Borums also had five digs each.

Katy Ramage led the Redbirds with four kills.

Sterling will take on former NIB-12 and NCIC rival LaSalle-Peru (34-3), a 25-19, 26-24 winner over Morton in the semifinal that followed the Golden Warriors’ win. On Oct. 21, Sterling beat the Cavaliers on the road, 25-18, 25-15.

“If we play our game, we’ll be fine,” Brook Borum said. “We just need to serve them out of system, keep all our passes in system, and keep all of our hitters in system, I think we’ll be perfectly fine.”

“We really need to work on playing smarter, and if we limit our errors on Wednesday, we’ll have a real good chance of winning,” Bree Borum added.

Volleyball

Class 3A Metamora Sectional semifinal

Sterling def. Metamora 25-15, 25-12

Star of the match: Brook Borum, Sterling, 16 kills, 5 digs

Key performers: Bree Borum, Sterling, 26 sssists, 7 kills, 5 digs; Lexi Rodriguez, Sterling, 16 digs; Grace Egan, Sterling, 4 kills, 2 aces; Katy Ramage, Metamora, 4 kills

Up next: 3A Metamora Sectional final, Sterling vs. LaSalle-Peru, 6:30 Wednesday