SCHULENBURG — The Bellville High School volleyball team traveled to Schulenburg High School and took down the Lady Shorthorns in four sets Aug. 20 at Shorthorns Gym in Schulenburg by a final score of 25-19, 25-8, 24-26, 25-16. Schulenburg battled hard in the final two sets and made things close, but Bellville controlled most of the game with their outside and middle hitters finding the floor and hitting the ball hard. “I was able to try a couple different lineups," said Bellville head volleyball coach Susan Brewer. "We do believe in we over me. Right now, they're getting that play in preseason. That's very important to us later down the line when we need it. We need those kids off the bench, so I'm pleased. Donald Zapalac and the Shorthorns are always tough and we hope to invite them to come over to Bellville next year and we'll play again." Brahmanettes senior outside hitter Sydney McKay had a huge game and was clutch down the stretch with the bunch of kills in the later sets.
"What I'm looking forward to the most is being with my girls for the last time," McKay said on being a senior. “It was really special for me my freshman year going to state, so I hope to bring these freshmen to state. I really look forward to that and just playing, having fun with my girls. I think throughout these sets, we're just learning how to play with each other and having fun. Working hard, having fun, and building your house. That's our little motto this year. I think we just need to work on the basics and keep focusing hard and win everyday." Schulenburg made it a ball game and have some very encouraging things to take from this game, making the last two sets close against a really good 4A team. “I was really happy with how the girls played," said Schulenburg head volleyball coach Donald Zapalac. "Bellville's always a perennial powerhouse. They play tough and they have some really quality hitters. We hadn't seen those kind of hitters yet. Explosive and stuff like that. I was happy the way we started touching some of those blocks. We got pieces of some balls from those quality hitters and we kept battling. The second set was just plain ugly. I told the girls are we gonna be one of those teams that just packs it in and says it's over, or are we gonna be one of those teams that shows some heart and some battle and says hey, we're gonna come back firing. That's what I told our group because that's what we've been doing most of the year. We have an ugly set or some ugly plays and we find ways to put things back together. We keep fighting. That's encouraging for this team. A new team out there with a lot of inexperienced players in different spots, so when we start doing that, I'm only happy." A kill from Schulenburg senior Emmrie Marx made it 8-7 in the first set before Bellville started to pull away and took a 15-9 lead on a bunch of kills and an ace. A block from Bellville then put it at 18-11 and Schulenuburg called timeout, which led to a few mishits from the Brahmanettes, but they were still able to grasp the set 25-19 on a kill from McKay.
Bellville jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the second set with tons of offense. More points on kills and even a few aces mixed in won the Brahmanettes the second set 25-8. Bellville grabbed the lead again in the third set, but Schulenburg was able to climb back and take a 14-13 lead on two kills in a row from junior middle blocker Clara Magliolo.
As both teams continued to go back and forth, the Lady Shorthorns went ahead 21-18 on a ball out of bounds from Bellville. Three mistakes in a row from the Brahmanettes at the end of the set won Schulenburg the third set 26-24.
Bellville took back control of the game with a 6-1 lead in the fourth set on two kills in a row from McKay and a ball out of bounds from Schulenburg. Schulenburg fought back once again and made it 9-7, which included back-to-back kills from Magliolo.
A kill from Schulenburg's Marx a little later tied it at 11, then Bellville scored three-consecutive points on two kills from McKay and an ace to make the scoreboard read 17-12 and force Schulenburg to call timeout.
A few more mistakes from Schulenburg and a bunch of tip balls toward the end of the set from Bellville won the Brahmanettes the set and match 25-16.
