BEREA – A match that looked like a quick win for Shadyside turned into a thrilling come-from-behind victory for Bellaire on Monday night, as the Big Reds came from behind in five sets to win 3-2 against the Tigers to start their season strong.
After Shadyside took the first two sets, 25-18, 25-20, Bellaire fought back to win the match, 25-21, 29-27, 15-12.
“We obviously started off poorly,” Bellaire head coach Erica Miller said, “It looked like the first match, we weren’t ready, but we got ourselves going. Our team wasn’t fired up or into the match the first couple of sets.”
“But when the confidence comes in, our girls are all over the court when they’re on a roll, and they definitely stepped it up in the last three sets.”
Shadyside had a height advantage up front on Monday and started the game with some hard-hitting scoring from outside hitters Sophie Boltz and Aubrey Nippert, but as the night went on, the Tigers made fewer and fewer of those plays.
“We started out strong and got out to a 2-0 lead,” Shadyside head coach Eric Mercer said. “We were pretty happy with how we played, but then we kind of lost steam.
“We started making mistakes, we started letting our guard down and we didn’t stay focused. They got the momentum.”
Bellaire jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the third set, forcing a Shadyside timeout as the Big Reds led 6-2. The Tigers made a comeback and a block by Boltz tied the set at 10-10, and the score remained close until Bellaire’s Zara Harveth blocked a ball to tie the score at 16-16. A couple of Shadyside errors put Bellaire up 20-18, and Big Reds’ Aubrey Hines energized her team with the final kill of the set.
In the fourth set, tension rose with long volleys as both teams’ scores passed 25 points, and the match was a back-and-forth affair.
With the score tied at 27-27, Harveth and Maia Marinacci scored two consecutive kills for Bellaire to finally end the set.
“The fourth set was a back and forth game down the stretch, both teams had a couple of set points and the match could have ended there but we just didn’t finish it off,” Mercer said. “The fifth set was more of the same, we made some key mistakes and just couldn’t close it out. They didn’t give up, so they deserve credit. It’s really hard to come back from 2-0 down but they did it. They played well.”
Bellaire was on a roll in the fifth set, jumping out to a 7-0 lead, and a rocket shot from Nippert put Shadyside back on the board to tie the score at 10-10, but Bellaire went on the offensive again after that and the Tigers were only able to score two points, with Harveth finishing off a block.
Harbeth had a game-high 17 kills, Marinacci had 11 and Bel Air’s Aubrey Hines had nine kills. Harbeth also had two solo blocks. Hines had 52 assists and 28 digs while Harbeth had 30 digs.
For Shadyside, Boltz led the team with 15 kills, while Nippert (12) and Giovanna Hines (11) also scored in double figures. Nippert had 31 digs and Boltz had two solo blocks.
Bellaire went 12-11 last year and will begin this season with another morale-boosting performance.
“It’s always good to win your first game,” Miller said, “and to start off with an exciting win like that and have everyone come together and play to their full potential definitely puts us in a good position for the rest of the season.”
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