Volleyball: Bureau Valley seniors finally defeat rival Princeton

MANLIUS – Kate Salisbury and the Bureau Valley senior class had never beaten rival Princeton at the varsity level before.

That all ended Tuesday night at the Storm Cellar, where the Storm won the third and deciding game 25-21 after winning the first and losing the second by the same 25-23 score.

Salisbury, who had 21 assists and six kills, wore the look of joy and relief after it was all over.

“It was very exciting. It hasn’t happened for a while, so it feels really good,” she said.

“That’s what they told me,” first-year coach Saige Barnett said about the BV seniors’ first win over rival PHS. “Might as well change now. We’re leaving the conference next year. Let’s go get them and leave conference with a Princeton win.”

Salisbury said the Storm would sleep well and “we’re all going to come to school with smiles on our faces tomorrow.”

Barnett, a former Storm standout, let the team celebrate with their friends and family right away.

“We didn’t even have a locker room chat. We’re coming out and celebrating with our family,” Barnett said. “We had a huge crowd here and a bunch of people supporting the team. Why make them wait? We’ll celebrate now and talk later. They’re still over the moon.”

Naturally, this match was destined to go three sets and right down to the wire.

Keighley Davis served up an ace to give the Tigresses an 18-17 lead only to have McKinley Kruger hit for the Storm sideout. Kruger followed up with a hit off a PHS block to give the Storm a lead they never gave up.

BV ran its lead to 23-19, but Chrissy Sierens blocked for the PHS sideout and a hitting error by the Storm made it 23-21. Senior Mattie Michlig, who didn’t play a year ago, hit for the Storm sideout, and classmate Emma Stabler hit for the match winner off a Princeton block to take the game at 25-21.

Salisbury said the Storm were well prepared going into the match.

“We watched film yesterday. We watched our errors. Watched what we could do better on defense when they’re hitting,” she said. “We had to really mentally prepare, because we knew we could not walk all over them. We had to fight, and going into that third game, we had to give it our all.

“We were all dead tired, but we knew we wanted to end up on top, and we did that.”

Princeton coach Andy Puck said the Tigresses, who dropped their third straight Three Rivers East match, are still searching for answers.

“We got outplayed in all aspects of the game. That’s all there is to it,” he said. “The game is all mental, and we’re just getting beat mentally. You can’t win games if you’re not mentally tough. And until we get it figured out between the ears, it’s not going to change.

“Bureau Valley played a very clean match. We’re sloppy. You know what, hold me responsible for all that. It’s my fault. It’s my team. I’ve got to do a better job of coaching.”

Kruger (eight kills) and Emma Stabler (seven kills) led the Storm attack and added two blocks each. Stabler added seven points and 13 digs, while libero Lesleigh Maynard had a team-high 10 points and 14 digs, Madison Smith had four blocks, Kate Stoller had eight points, two aces and six digs, and and Taylor Neuhalfen added six points and five digs.

For Princeton, Davis and Ellie Harp had eight kills apiece, Sierens had seven and Caroline Keutzer six. Setter Natasha Faber-Fox dished out 27 assists and a team-high 14 points, while libero Miyah Fox added 21 digs and 10 points.

BV went up 13-8 and 18-14 in the first game, but the Tigresses rallied within 19-18 on hits by Keutzer and Davis and a deep ace by Kelsea Klingenberg that the Storm let fall in. The game was tied twice at 22 and 23 before Salisbury sided out for the Storm, who ended it at 25-23.

The Storm appeared headed to a game two clincher, taking a 22-19 lead, but the Tigresses were not ready to cash it in quite yet. A hit by Harp tied the game at 22 and a block by Sierens gave PHS its first lead in nine points at 23-22. BV scored on a service error, but handed the Tigresses the winner on a ball hit out of bounds.

The Bureau County rivals will meet again Oct. 3 at Princeton.