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  • New Albany's Candace Timberlake reacts to a point scored by the Bulldogs Thursday night against Brownstown Central. Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen

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  • New Albany's Catlin Lilly attempts a kill against Brownstown Central's Sammie Bane Thursday night at the Doghouse. Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen

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  • New Albany's Shelby Hoskins tries to block a Brownstown Central kill attempt Thursday night at the Doghouse. Staff photo by Kevin McGloshen

    09-03 NA-B Volley3.w.jpg

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September 2, 2010

HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL: Brownstown tops Bulldogs in battle of third-ranked team

BY GREG MENGELT Greg.Mengelt@newsandtribune.com

> SOUTHERN INDIANA — New Albany head volleyball coach John Breeding and Brownstown Central coach Jennifer Shade both said that Thursday’s matchup was an indication of how each would stack up against Southern Indiana’s best teams.

After a three-set win, it was clear that Class 2A No. 3 Brownstown Central stacks up better than Class 4A No. 3 New Albany — at least early in the season.

The Braves won three close sets — 26-24, 25-22, 25-21 — to improve to 8-1. New Albany dropped to 8-1 with the loss.

“This game was a measuring stick and I don’t think we measured up,” Breeding admitted. “We have a lot of things to work on.”

“New Albany has a strong, strong club with a lot of good players, so this was a big, big win,” Shade said. “To beat them is such a big boost for us because it was such a good win.”

Brownstown won each set in a different fashion.

In the opening set, New Albany had three set points before the Braves scored the final five points for a 26-24 advantage. The Bulldogs led by as many as four points twice — at 5-1 and 24-20.

The second set was back-and-forth with neither team leading by more than two points until the Braves’ final point made it 25-22. There were five lead changes and the set was tied 12 times — at two, five, nine, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20.

Brownstown won the final set without ever allowing New Albany to lead. The Braves broke a 16-16 tie with four straight points. After the Bulldogs pulled within two points at 21-19, Brownstown put the match away with four of the final six points.

“We just had way too many hitting errors,” Breeding said. “Our kids didn’t always read their blocks, and we hit a lot of balls out of bounds. (Brownstown) is a very good ball team, and they beat us.”

Breeding said the news wasn’t all bad for the New Albany.

“We did have some kids do some outstanding things tonight,” he said. “I thought our serve reception was very, very good. I thought Candace Timberlake and Christina Keller played outstanding — and so did our defensive specialists, (Sara) Schad and Deandra (Stinson). They really did.”

Timberlake led the Bulldog defense with 13 digs. Kendall Kleer had a team-best 11 kills for New Albany, and Shelby Hoskins finished with 10 kills, three blocks and two service aces. Lauren Bratcher had 30 of the Bulldogs’ 31 assists.

Sammie Bane led Brownstown with 26 assists, and the Braves had three players with at least eight kills, led by Katelyn Shoemaker with nine. Shoemaker also had team-best three aces.

Breeding said he hopes his team meets the Braves again at the Sept. 18 Active Ankle Challenge at New Albany.

“We both have very tough pool play,” Breeding said of the tournament. “It would be nice if we could win our pool, and they could win theirs, and we could win again.”

In its next contest, New Albany will host rival Floyd Central — Class 4A’s 10th-ranked team — next Thursday.

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