BEA girls’ volleyball uses big run of points to knock off rival P-O

Sometimes a little run of points at the right time can make the difference in a volleyball match.

Then, there is the run Bald Eagle Area assembled Thursday night.

The Lady Eagles rattled off a stunning 20 straight points — a pair of 10-point bursts the end of the second and start the third — to wrap up an otherwise tight battle with rival Philipsburg-Osceola 25-23, 25-13, 25-16.

“I love when we get into runs like that and everyone gets so excited,” said senior setter Madison Rockey, who had 31 assists and three blocks. “Then the students go crazy — it’s just a lot of fun.”

The tussle between the Mountain League’s leaders kept the Lady Eagles (5-0, 5-0) atop the league and handed the Lady Mounties (11-1, 4-1) their first loss.

“This is the best team we’re going to see in the Mountain League,” BEA coach Larry Campbell said. “Plus, P-O brings fans.”

BEA was paced by Grace Hugar’s 10 kills, 11 digs and three aces, while her sister Mae added eight kills. Alyson Onder picked up nine digs, and Elita Brown and Hannah Zimmerman delivered two aces apiece.

Hugar was at the service line for the burst to close the second, and as each point fell for the Lady Eagles, the two teams’ opposing emotions were quite evident.

“After the first game, I really thought we were in good shape,” P-O coach Dave Eckberg said. “It was point-for-point the entire way, but we gave up that run, and our spirits got down and we lost ball control. That was the big difference, and we couldn’t rebound from that.”

For the Lady Eagles, it was a solid run of serving, contrasting the seven service errors they had earlier in the second set.

Once they finally found their groove — especially Hugar — they had the Lady Mounties on their heels.

“We serve aggressive,” Campbell said. ‘But there’s a line between serving tough and serving like an idiot. We got over that line a few times. But it was one of those things where girls were trying to go for more.”

Eckberg’s team, on the other hand, seemed to lose confidence in its passing abilities during the stretch of points.

“So much of that is mental,” Eckberg said. “We clearly demonstrated throughout the match that we could pass their serve, but when the kids get it in their heads a little bit and start to get down on themselves, just little breakdowns ... those are the things that take over.”

P-O was paced by Brynn Bailey’s four kills and Mackenzie Welker’s three kills and two blocks as the team had just 16 total kills. Hannah Thompson gave out nine assists, Jadyn Eckberg picked up 15 digs and three aces, and Morgan Thompson had a dozen digs.

It was not a perfect night for the Lady Eagles, however. One of the team’s senior captains, outside hitter Peetie Ballock, had to be helped from the court early in the first set with an injury to her left knee. Campbell was not sure of Ballock’s future status, but he knew it had his team shaken for most of the first set.

“That affected me and I’m an adult,” Campbell said. “We had to fit the puzzle together. When you look over and you see your teammate crying on the bench, that really holds a lot on you.”

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 12:10 AM with the headline "BEA girls’ volleyball uses big run of points to knock off rival P-O."