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HINCKLEY – At 5-foot-7, Courtlyn Brockway doesn’t have the size associated with most outside hitters.
Against Indian Creek on Tuesday, it didn’t matter.
Brockway recorded kills from all over the court, including attacking from the back row to help Hinckey-Big Rock topple the Timberwolves 25-23, 22-25, 25-18 in a Little Ten Conference battle.
“I feel like it’s been really effective,” said Brockway, who finished with 19 kills. “Me and my setter Anna [Herrmann] have been working on it a lot in practice. It’s been helping us scoring, not just me running it, but our other outside running it in the back row. Even our liberos and [defensive specialists], it’s just really helping us score points against the other team.”
In the first set, Hinckley-Big Rock (11-5, 4-1 conference) didn’t trail after Indian Creek (9-9-2, 3-3) led 2-1. But there were still five more ties after that, and the Royals could never grow their lead to more than four.
Every time the Timberwolves closed in, the Royals would come up with a big play. The Timberwolves pulled to within 18-17 on a Laila Faivre ace, Brockway answered with a kill. IC got it to 23-22 on a three-point run and a Cheyenne Buh kill, Brockway answered to push the lead to 24-22.
“Courtlyn is a girl that just eats, sleeps, breathes volleyball,” H-BR coach Jessican Bivins said. “She is an outstanding player serving, passing, her hands are even good for setting. She does an amazing job. We’ve been working on those back-row attacks lately just to have that in our belt. Obviously, it’s proven it’s worked.”
In the second game, IC took a 13-12 lead and never trailed again. The lead grew to as much as 23-16 on an ace by Allie Peterson, but the Royals rattled off six of the next seven points before a kill by Paloma Cardenas ended the game and forced a third.
Petersen finished with nine kills, four blocks, four digs and three aces for the Timberwolves, close to typical numbers for the senior outside hitter since she moved from the middle.
“She’s been playing really well on the outside,” Orstead said “We’re still trying to find the timing between her and Izzy [Turner, the team’s setter], but once they start connecting and she starts swinging, good things can happen.”
In the third game, the teams split the first two points but H-BR scored the next four and ended up cruising. Three times in the match – at 17-9, 18-10 and 21-13 – Sami Carlino came up with a block for the Royals to maintain an eight-point lead.
Bivins said she was happy to see the Royals respond after dropping the second game. She said the little run at the end of the second set definitely carried over into the third.
“I feel like Hinckley has notoriously been a team that has tended to fall off,” Bivins said. “We come out strong, then we fall off. Our momentum goes out. But this year the girls have really proven themselves. Even if we get down by a few points, we can change that mindset and come right back up.”
Turner had 18 assists, 12 digs, four kills, two aces and two blocks for the Royals, while libero Mia Riffell had 21 digs and six assists. Ellie Bend added four kills.
Herrmann’s 25 assists put her at 997 for her career, setting her up to hit the milestone in the homecoming match Thursday against Serena.
Hinckley-Big Rock will bring an eight-match winning streak Thursday.
“I take a lot of pride in it,” Brockway said. “It’s a really big accomplishment for our program. I’m just so proud of my team. We’ve come so far, and I’m so excited for the rest of the season.”