Bergan sweeps home triangular, face big tests in coming weeks
Over a dozen games into the season, the Class C-2 No. 8 Bergan volleyball team still hasn't settled on its final form.
The Knights coaching staff is still tooling and toiling with the line-up, trying maximize the potential of the group.
"They all know every position on the court by now that if we need to move they just go with it," said Bergan coach Jessica Scheuler.
The Knights, even with a little bit of flux, have continued to rack up wins, sweeping its home triangular Tuesday night.
Bergan handled Logan View/Scriber-Snyder 25-19, 25-13 in the opening match of the day then closed with a 25-23, 25-10 win over North Bend Central.
"Against Logan View, I felt like we were a little slower from the get-go, just not quite the energy — five o'clock games are hard, nobodies here," Scheuler said.
The Knights came out sluggish again against North Bend Central as the visiting Tigers jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the opening set.
"We played North Bend two weekend ago and we knew they were going to be brewing something tonight, so the girls just energized themselves," Scheuler said.
Bergan, following a timeout, rattled off six-straight points to get back into the game, setting off a back-and-fourth final sprint.
Reagan Cansler won a joust at the net to secure the final points of the opening set.
There was no need for a comeback in set two as the Knights steamrolled the Tigers.
Scheuler highlighted Alina Ortiz for providing a spark in set two.
"She was doing some right side for us, she's kind of been all over for us, so we put her at middle and she had some phenomenal blocks and tips," Scheuler said.
The junior finished with three kills and a pair of solo blocks against the Tigers.
North Bend Central, who swept the middle match of the Triangular 25-12, 25-16 over Logan View, staved off three match points before Claire Mlnarik put the game away with a cross court snipe.
Mlnarik finished with nine kills in both games, pacing the Knights against North Bend Central. Payton Langhorst notched 11 against Logan View to lead the squad and also chipped in six kills against the Tigers.
The pair of victories extend Bergan's win streak to five-straight. The Knights have won eight of their last nine matches with the lone losing coming in five sets against now Class C-2 No. 5 Homer.
Both loses on the Knights 12-2 record are to ranked opponents, the other being a 2-1 loss to No. 3 Oakland-Craig.
"They're willing to fight through adversity," Scheuler said. "We come out ready to fight who ever we are up against, they just look at each team as just another team to beat."
The Knights schedule picks up heavily in the coming week. Bergan closes this week with a 7 p.m. game against Douglas County West Thursday.
The following week, Bergan makes the trip to Wahoo to face historically strong Bishop Neumann (9-5) and No. 1 Lincoln Lutheran (9-1) then follow it up by hosting No. 2 Yutan (12-0).
