BORDEN – The Class A sectional host Borden Braves cruised to an easy opening-round win over Christian Academy on Tuesday, 25-13, 25-16, 25-9, and advanced to play Lanesville in Saturday’s semifinal round.
“I think we served and received pretty well tonight, and that allowed us to get in position to get a lot of attacks,” Borden (21-12) coach D.J. Zipp said. “We can be tough to stop at times, but you never take anything for granted in the postseason.
“Christian Academy is a never-give-up team,” he said. “Even when we had a big lead, I was still on them.”
The Braves made their mark with several impressive stats that indicated their dominance over the Warriors (5-24). Borden racked up 14 service aces, including six that came off the arm of outside hitter Jordan Cook, who also contributed six kills.
Braves setter Kelli Holtshouser set up the Braves attack with 24 assists, 14 of which went to middle hitter Erin Mikel, whose 16 finishes led all scorers.
Mikel’s knuckleball-style serve also dipped towards the floor on several occasion, flustering the Warrior back row. The sophomore contributed five service aces of her own.
“Our service game is something that we’ve worked on, and our improvement showed tonight,” Zipp said.
Aside from a brief lapse in the second game when Christian Academy jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead, the Braves shrugged off the Warriors with superior size, speed and passing. Following the Christian Academy advantage, the Braves ripped off 10 consecutive points during a span that saw four kills from Mikel and three from middle hitter Allison Racemacher.
Still, Christian Academy coach Kelly Falcone said she was happy with her young squad, which graduates two seniors but will bring back 13 players next season.
“I’m real proud of our girls. We had matches this season when we really struggled to serve, hit and pass,” Falcone said. “But I loved the leadership from Elise (middle hitter Steinbrenner, a senior). Our freshmen and sophomore just couldn’t get over the hump and over those sectional jitters.”
Steinbrenner finished with nine kills and freshman middle hitter Rachel Boesing chipped in with five. Danielle Castleman contributed 13 assists from the setter’s position for the Warriors.
Zipp credited the home crowd, which showed up in force, for giving the Braves a big boost Tuesday night.
“I think the town has really gotten behind what we’ve done this year,” he said. “I told the girls that if we could get the fans out tonight they’d be back again on Saturday, and we’re happy to have this here.”
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