Despite most fall sports coming to an end, volleyball is just getting started.
The Bobcats are currently 3-0 in conference play and ranked first in the WPIAL 3A rankings. Overall, Beaver Area is 28-5-1 with a 84% win percentage, and is ranked 4 in the PIAA.
October 1 marked the biggest game of the season for the Ladycats with their matchup against Mars. The game was an amazing watch with final scores of 25-19, 25-14, and 25-20, and a Bobcats 3-0 win.
Junior Lanie Malobabich proved once again to be a crucial player with 12 kills. She had a whopping .647 kill percentage.
Junior Kailyn Connelly is normally the first person senior Zoe Ringer sets to but against a strong team like Mars she had to lean on unexpected players to spike.
Connelly had a kill percentage of .371, and junior Jaedyn Brown had a percentage of .333.
Even though it was an amazing game, the Cats’ struggled to get aces and serves over the net. Nonetheless, freshman Kayden Blinn proved to be cool under pressure and served six of the nine Bobcats aces.
Junior Aubrey Bumblis had 14 digs and 15 serve receives, and Ringer had 31 sets.
A string of short wins followed against easy teams as the Bobcats crushed Lincoln Park, Laurel, and New Castle. All three matches were glorified practices and Beaver Area was in and out of the away sets within an hour and a half.
Connelly had 12 kills at the Laurel match, and Malobabich had 12 kills at the New Castle game.
The Ladycats then traveled to Central Valley October 10 for their second matchup of the season against the Warriors. Once again the Bobcats had a 3-0 win.
The coaching staff decided to go for some records at this easy game, and set every kill to Connelly. This allowed her to reach a new career best of 27 kills in one game. No other teammate had over 3 kills.
Unfortunately, at this game Malobabich twisted her ankle and severely hurt her Achilles heel. She will be out of the rest of the regular season and hopes to return for the playoffs.
October 15 marked the final home game for the Ladycats, senior night, and a game against Ambridge.
Before the varsity game, the volleyball team’s four seniors were honored in a ceremony: Sophia Sharpless, Grace Vinopal, Allie Williams, and Ringer were able to reminisce about their high school careers and share their favorite memories.
Vinopal stated that “It was an emotional night for everyone, but in the end we are the senior class that has been a part of both a winning and losing team. This team means so much, and I’ve had a great time.”
It is an unwritten rule in high school sports that you are supposed to face an easy opponent for senior night and the volleyball team definitely followed this “rule.”
All the Bridgers could celebrate were some digs and when they served above the net.
This also meant that Sharpless was able to be the starting libero over Bumblis, Vinopal was the starting right-side over Blinn, and Williams was able to be a starting defensive specialist.
The Ladycats had only one regular season game left to play against Blackhawk October 17—and that means the WPIAL playoffs are quickly approaching, but the Bobcats have to claw their way through the bracket.
Check the next BASD ECHO for coverage of volleyball’s final weeks.