By KT Reid
Contributing Writer
The Brookhaven College women’s volleyball team took care of business in a 3-0 sweep against the North Lake College Blazers Oct. 3.
The Bears set the tone early and barely let the Blazers breathe, winning each set decisively.
The Bears went into the game with a record of 13-7 overall and, more importantly, a record of 3-0 within their conference. The Bears won nine of their last 10 games and are feeling more confident as a team.
“We already know we’re better than all these teams,” Bears outside hitter Laurissa Zavala said. “We don’t get too comfortable, but we are comfortable.”
Set One
The Bears started off quick and aggressive in the first set with three- and five-point runs to establish an early 8-2 lead.
Brookhaven outside hitter Yasmin Miller shut down a Blazers run with a sharp spike from the left side of the net, giving the home team a 14-8 advantage.
Zavala hammered down a spike from the right side of the net and served an ace on consecutive plays to put Brookhaven ahead 19-11. The Bears closed the set with a spike by middle blocker Faith Massey that ricocheted off a blocking defender’s hand down to the floor. The Bears won the first set 25-13.
Set two
Brookhaven started off the second set in a similarly dominating fashion, amassing a 6-0 lead. North Lake seemed to be feeling the pressure early, as three of their return volleys landed out of bounds during the Bears’ six-point run.
The Blazers attempted to mount a comeback. North Lake outside hitter Alexia Samaroo delivered a spike through the middle that went untouched and landed just inside Brookhaven’s back line.
That point made the score 8-4, but the Bears capitalized on errant digs and volleys by the Blazers and went up 15-6 at the halfway point of the second set.
Miller and teammate Kaitlyn Wood, helped give the home team a 10-point advantage by each recording back-to-back spikes from the middle and right side of the net.
Miller scored again on another spike in the next volley to make the score 22–11. Miller continued to terrorize the Blazers from all over the court, rotating and scoring from the middle, left and right hitter positions.
The Blazers cut their deficit to eight points by blocking back-to-back Bears spikes, but they couldn’t stop the Brookhaven onslaught. The Bears eventually won the second set 25-15.
Set three
North Lake didn’t give up. They started off the third set with a 3-0 lead. The two teams went back and forth in points until Samaroo gave the Blazers a four-point lead with a spike. Samaroo’s point made the score 11-7.
The Bears fought back and forced the Blazers into four consecutive errors to tie the set 11-11.
This seemed to be the turning point in the set, as the Bears rallied to again score four consecutive points to take a 15-11 lead during an eight-point run. The Brookhaven bench felt the momentum switch and high-fived each other on the sidelines.
The Bears continued to score. Zavala served an ace to give the Bears a 17-13 advantage. Next, the Bears scored on back-to-back volleys with the help of a pair of digs by setter Morgan Frisby.
After the Blazers’ attempted rally fell short, the Bears prevailed by scoring another four consecutive points to win the final set 25-18.
Frisby said, “I think we just played more together as a team.”
Brookhaven head coach Jason Hopkins said he is happy with the win, and since the team is currently dealing with different injuries and ailments, they want to just take it one game at a time.
The Bears are near the end of the regular season, and while they continue to prepare for the playoff tournament, they will play Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. against Mountain View College at home.
