Class D-1: BDS leans on experience to get past Howells-Dodge in first round
Kari Jo Alfs smiles as she recalls the confusion.
It's 2017, and the BDS volleyball team is at the state tournament for the first time under Alfs, and for just the third time in the co-op's history.
"Everybody looked at me like, 'Where do we go, coach?' I said, 'I don't have any idea, because I was new to it too," Alfs said Thursday.
The big arena is old hat now to the Eagles, who leaned on experience to sweep Howells-Dodge 25-21, 25-20, 25-10 in the first round of the Class D-1 tournament at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
BDS has now played in eight consecutive state tournaments, a run highlighted by back-to-back titles in D-2 in 2018 and 2019. And while this season's cast wasn't on the court for those matches, Alfs estimates most of them were in the building as student-managers or as fans.
So they know where to line up for their team photos, when to take the court for warmups and, well, when to step on the gas in a match.
In all three sets, BDS shook free of Howells-Dodge in the middle stages, and then held on down the stretch. Campbell and Kinzley Bohling, who both played at state last year, led the way with 12 kills and 11, respectively.
"The experience that we showed out on the court today was huge," Alfs said.
The match, unsteady at times, rewarded the team who made fewest mistakes. Howells-Dodge was led in kills by sophomores Bella Koliha and Peyten Becker, who both had seven kills in their state tournament debuts.
The difference in experience was revealed at the service line. BDS had five ace serves to Howells-Dodge's zero, and the Jaguars also had seven service errors. That's 12 free points, in a sense.
"I'm guessing it was just the the arena that we're playing in factored into that (serving)," Howells-Dodge coach Sara Franzluebbers said. "Yeah, we had some balls go long."
BDS closed out sets with authority, often defusing Howells-Dodge bursts of momentum. Hayley Sliva had key kills toward the end of both the first and second sets.
"Our biggest keyword this week is response," Alfs said. We talked this week about reacting to every play in a positive way. You know, we're not going to get every point."
Nate Head is the sports editor of the Journal Star. On Twitter Love
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