Volleyball: Princeton carries momentum into 2nd set to beat rival Bureau Valley

Princeton coach Andy Puck said he knew the match could be decided at the end of the first set against Bureau Valley on Tuesday night at Prouty Gym.

The rival Storm, who defeated the Tigresses earlier in conference play at Bureau Valley, were pushing to take the opener, leading 21-17.

But not so fast.

Princeton senior setter Natasha Faber-Fox served out the game with nine straight points, including two aces.

Sophomore Keighley Davis finished off a 25-21 win with a kill, and the Tigresses rode that momentum to an easy 25-14 win in the second set to sweep the Three Rivers East match.

“Pulling that first set out was the big difference,” Puck said. “Momentum is everything. That could have very easily been us [losing] in the second set if you don’t win the first one.

“You try to get to five first in the second set, then first to 10. Keeping the momentum. We still had a lot of unforced errors in that second set. But we were able to focus and trust one another and keep putting points on the board. Where a few weeks ago, we weren’t that way.”

PHS senior Chrissy Sierens, who hit for the final point of the night, said it was good redemption for the Tigresses to beat the Storm after dropping the first conference match.

“I think it was good for us mentally and gives us more confidence the rest of the season. I’m really proud of us,” she said. “We definitely had to focus down and think more strategically what we needed to accomplish front row-wise and defense-wise. We really performed well.”

It was not lost on all parties, especially first-year BV coach Saige Barnett, who played for the Storm, that the match will be the last scheduled contest between the longtime rivals who have played since Bureau Valley’s inception in 1995. The Storm will join the Lincoln Trail Conference next year, and there will be no future matches scheduled.

“I think them not playing us ever again, we made a point of that,” Barnett said. “This group of girls have the honor of putting the Princeton-Bureau Valley rivalry to rest. And I think that just hits a little bit closer to home tonight. As soon as BV formed, Princeton and BV were rivals.

“It was a special night, and I’m glad we were able to come over here, and that first game was competitive and we got after it.

Puck said it’s going to be crazy not playing the Storm again.

After the nail-biter in the first game, the second set was all Princeton.

The Tigresses (13-13-1, 5-3) jumped out to leads of 11-1, 17-7 and 20-8 before Sierens finished off the Tigresses’ sweep with a kill shot for match point at 25-14.

“We’re still pretty far off where we need to be, but we’re a lot better than where we were a few weeks ago,” Puck said. “Still made a lot of young mistakes tonight. Missed serves, lot of net violations, front-row blockers not knowing where their hitters were.

“But the back row played dynamite tonight. In the past, that’s been our Achilles’ heel. The past week, they’ve really, really picked it up. Basically took it upon themselves to play a lot better defense and serve-receive and that was the key tonight.”

Barnett said poor passing led to the Storm’s downfall.

“That’s been the make or break recently,” she said. “We work on it, and the girls know it. It wasn’t a lack of effort tonight by any means. The girls know what they need to do to come to practice ready to go tomorrow and just be better.

“You can’t do anything without the pass. And I think any coach in the history of volleyball should be saying that. Everybody hits a slump and right now we’re just hoping we can work our tails out of it by the time regionals come.”

Sophomores Caroline Keutzer (five kills) and Davis (four kills) led the PHS hitting attack with Karsyn Brucker, Ellie Harp and Sierens adding three kills each. Faber-Fox had the hot hand, serving with 14 points and three aces to go with 13 assists. Other leaders for the Tigresses were Miyah Fox with nine digs and Harp with 11 points.

For the Storm (11-14, 5-3), Emma Stabler had five kills and 12 digs, Kate Salisbury had 11 assists, Kinley Canady had four kills, Taylor Neuhalfen had three points and three blocks, and Landry Hitzler had eight digs.

BV won the sophomore match 25-17, 15-25, 25-23, and Princeton won the freshmen match 25-17, 25-17.