By Sam Doherty 

Sports/Opinion Editor

The Brookhaven Lady Bears sweep Eastfield College Harvesters for the second time this semester and remain undefeated in
conference play, 6-0.

The Brookhaven College Lady Bears volleyball team remained undefeated in conference play Oct. 12 as they beat the Eastfield College Harvesters 3-0. This was the second time this season the Lady Bears swept the Harvesters, a team which head coach Jason Hopkins said he expected to be Brookhaven’s toughest opponent in the Metro Athletic Conference.

The Lady Bears’ domination over another conference foe was thanks in part to Brookhaven’s balanced attack as five different Lady Bears scored 5 or more points each. Eastfield was no easy test though, as Harvester Karina Lay, a two-time National Junior College Athletic Association Player of the Week, rallied her team against Brookhaven for most of the night.

Set 1

As they have all season, Brookhaven jumped out to a commanding lead in the first set with a score of 13-6, setting the tone.

After Lady Bear Taylor Stone served her first of two service aces of the night, the Harvesters scored three straight times, turning the score to 17-11.

It looked like Eastfield was creeping their way back into the game when a long volley between the two teams began. Erin Terry and Mathis Popelsky stole the momentum back for Brookhaven by making digs off two consecutive Eastfield spikes, turning what looked like a sure point for the Harvesters into a Brookhaven kill.

On the next play, Alexis Garner and Crystal Lewis both earned a block assist as they teamed up for a double block, stuffing Eastfield’s spike back on the Harvester side of the court, making the score 19-11.

Stone assisted teammate Terry once again for a powerful spike, setting up a game point for the Lady Bears and winning the first set, 25-13.

Set 2

The Harvesters were not fazed by Brookhaven’s dominance and put on a show in the second set.

Led by Cailey Clogston with 10 kills on the offensive end, Mckayla Petters and Lay held down the court on the defensive end as they kept the Harvesters in the match with 15 and 11 digs respectively, according to njcaa. org.

With the score tied at 3, Brookhaven scored three straight times. The last was a thunderous spike from Terry off a high set from Stone. The ball nailed an Eastfield defender in the chest before ricocheting off onto the ground for the Brookhaven point.

Eastfield did not let Brookhaven’s lead exceed 3 points for the rest of the match as the two teams battled back and forth.

Stone set up teammate Samantha Eaton with a soft backward set, which barely went over the net. That was all Eaton needed to quickly spike the ball in the middle of the backcourt for the point, making the score 11-9.

Stone was setting up her team, and her court awareness shone. She had Eastfield fooled as she quickly back-tapped the volleyball onto the Harvester side for the point, bringing the score to 12-10.

Once again, the Harvesters evened the score at 14 after some of their own perfectly placed spikes and hustle. But the Lady Bears would not give up control of the lead, as they scored 3 straight points of their own, making the score 17-14.

Hopkins yelled out to his team “No,” as an Eastfield spike whizzed by the Brookhaven players and out of bounds for the Lady Bear point.

Popelsky came up with the best of her 13 digs of the night, resulting in a quick one-handed spike from Eaton for the kill, bringing the score to 19-15.

The Lady Bears were pulling away, but the Harvesters fought back, tying the score at 22 and looking like they were finally going to take a lead of their own. But on the next serve, Alexis Garner rose up high and slammed a spike down the left side, scoring the go-ahead point and finishing it off with a fist pump and scream of excitement.

Terry then spiked a ball just out of the reach of an Eastfield player for one of her 14 kills of the night, according to njcaa.org, setting up game point at 24-22. After the Harvesters brought the score within one point, the Lady Bears won the set 25-23 after an Eastfield player was called for a centerline violation on another Terry spike.

Set 3

The third set started off just like the previous one, with the two teams neck and neck for the first few minutes of the game. After being tied at 7-7, Brookhaven finally got their groove back and took over the game.

With the score at 12-9, Stone served five straight times, leading to 5 points for the Lady Bears and cushioning their lead to 8 points at 17-9. Soon after, Kelsey Rogers soared in the air, spiking the ball for one of her eight kills of the night, according to njcaa.org.

After Eaton spiked the last kill of her nine of the night. Chelsea James ripped the game winner down the left side, just out of the reach of the Harvester defenders, winning the last set 25-16.

The Lady Bears were led by Stone’s court awareness and great team chemistry. She set up her teammates with an outlandish 39 assists throughout the match, according to njcaa.org. Lewis and Eaton were not to be reckoned with in the middle of the court, while Terry, Rogers and Garner were offensive juggernauts. Popelsky provided the non-stop energy the team needed to beat Eastfield as she was all over the court on defense.

After defeating Eastfield, the Lady Bears had an overall record of 18-8 and remained undefeated in conference play at 6-0. Brookhaven is now 9-0 in conference play with an overall record of 21-8 (as of press date).