Volleyball: Bronson sweeps Union City, Quincy falls to Stockbridge in Big 8 play

UNION CITY – The Union City Chargers opened their doors to the Bronson Vikings Tuesday night for a key volleyball battle in the Big 8 Conference.

Union City showed no quit on the night and held a lead in each set over the defending Big 8 champions, however, Bronson’s firepower proved to be too much, with the Vikings taking the three-set win by scores of 25-14, 25-17, and 25-18.

“We saw some good things from some different players today and that is what we need to move forward,” Bronson coach Jean LaClair said.

Union City came firing out of the gate Tuesday night, pumping up a very raucous student section that turned out on Cowboy Night, including a life size version of Woody from Toy Story.

Much to the approval of that student section the Chargers raced out to an early 4-0 lead as the Vikings were reeling early. Bronson buckled down and went on a 5-1 run to knot things up at 5-5 just moments later.

The powerful net play of Aubree Calloway, Payton Springstead and setter Aleah Brackett helped the Vikings take control, building an 18-12 lead, forcing a Union City timeout. The break did little to slow down the Viking attack as Bronson closed the set on a 6-2 run to win set one 25-14.

Much like set one, Union City looked to take control early in set two, building a modest lead at 9-5, leading to a timeout from Bronson’s coach LaClair. The timeout did wonders for the Vikings who promptly rattled off a 6-0 run, giving Bronson an 11-9 lead, forcing a Union City timeout to regroup.

Bronson continued to run out of the break, going on a 7-2 run to build an 18-11 advantage, leading to another Union City timeout. This time the Chargers responded out of the break with a 5-0 run, closing to within 18-16 in a heartbeat, leading to a much-needed timeout for the Vikings. Bronson again responded out of the break, outscoring Union City 7-1 to put away set two 25-17.

Set three belonged to Bronson from the opening serve, as the Vikings wasted little time racing out to a 10-2 lead. Union City showed no quit and continued to battle, however the Charger attack just was not enough as Bronson took set three 25-16 and the match three sets to none.

Bronson was led at the net by the duo of Calloway and Springstead who both notched double-digit kills. Springstead lead the way with 11 kills to go along with two aces, one assist, five digs, and one block while Calloway added 10 kills, two digs, and five blocks.

Aleah Brackett also had a big night from her setter spot, notching 20 assists, nine digs, three aces, and five kills.

Also adding to the Bronson victory was Braylynn Dow with one assist, five digs and three blocks; Jaiden Hayes with one kill, one ace, and six digs; Ciara Blankenship with 10 digs; Miriam Sanchez with a kill and a block; Roni Bir with one dig; Itzel Albarran with one ace, one assist, and three digs; Brynn Adkins with one dig; Hadley Wagaman with one ace and one dig; and Hermosa Gonzalez with one dig.

Union City was led at the net by Hailey Day who had seven kills, two digs and one block while Gracie Phelps added 14 assists, two kills, blocks, and 10 digs.

Kaite Johnson led the team in digs with 16 while Gillain Gallup added three kills and five digs.

Also chipping in for the Union City effort was Reagan Michael with two digs; Attica Hoath with two kills, one block, and four digs; Lilly Eyre with two kills and a dig; Natalie Needham with one kill; and Sydney Miller with two digs.

“We are such a young team, and we started out so well in two of the three sets, we just came short,” Union City coach Ashley Herman said.

Bronson improves to 3-0 in the Big 8 Conference with the win and will see action again on Saturday when they travel to Laingsburg. Union City meanwhile will look to bounce back next Tuesday when they travel to Springport.

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Quincy volleyball falls to Stockbridge in four sets

QUINCY – The Quincy varsity volleyball team fell to the newest member of the Big 8 Conference on Tuesday, as the Orioles fell to the team from Stockbridge in four sets by scores of 18-25, 23-25, 25-10 and 22-25.

“We continue to fall short in our mental preparations and communication,” Quincy coach Alixandra Neitzert said. “We were able to rebound back for set three, but it is really hard to come back after dropping the first two games and giving a team that much momentum.”

Quincy was led offensively by Danika Skirka who had 11 kills to go with three assists and four blocks while Olivia Davenport led the team on defense with 19 digs and two aces.

Also adding to the Quincy effort was Abby Leosh with 14 digs, four kills, and four aces; Ashlyn Fickle with 13 digs and 12 assists; Kyha Brewer with six kills, four aces, and six assists; and Kora Timmons with four kills.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Bronson volleyball sweeps Union City, Quincy falls to Stockbridge