Bellevue sweeps Margaretta

CASTALIA — Silence the crowd. No matter how hard the Margaretta student section tried to get the Polar Bears going, Bellevue was having none of it. Four Lady Red players tallied at least five kills, lifting Bellevue to a 25-12, 25-23, 25-17 win in Sandusky Bay Conference crossover action Tuesday. Finley LaPata led the Lady Red (6-2) with 10 kills while Calie Cramer lined seven kills. Hallie McCarthy registered six kills and Kaitlyn Turinsky had five. "I'm proud of them for sticking with our game plan and continuing to be smart," Bellevue coach Liana Petitti said. "I saw some of our players like Hallie McCarthy making smarter swings than we've seen her make previously this season. That shows me she's growing and learning. If everyone can keep doing that, that will make our team better." Bellevue was in control from the start in the first set. Up 3-2, a kill from Emma Krall and consecutive aces from Kate Baptista jumpstarted an 11-1 run for the Lady Red. Bellevue showed diversity at the end of the run as Cramer, LaPata and Julia Dauch each smacked a kill to grab a double-digit lead. The Lady Red faced little resistance from the Polar Bears (2-6) the rest of the set and a kill from McCarthy and ace by Krall gave Bellevue a 1-0 lead. "Our serve reception is what is killing us a lot lately," Margaretta coach Sarah Kuns said. "Fundamentally and technically, they know what they're doing. It's just the execution of it we struggle with. We've been working the whole time on serve reception. It's getting there, just not as fast as we'd like it to." Margaretta played significantly better in the second set. Bellevue jumped out to a 5-1 advantage, thanks again to two aces from Baptista. The Polar Bears fought back as Kenadie Saylor tallied back-to-back aces and Margaretta went up 10-6. Bellevue closed within 17-16 after a kill from Turinsky. Consecutive errors by Margaretta pushed the Lady Red lead to 21-18. The Polar Bears cut within one point a couple times, but a kill from Cramer and a hitting error by Margaretta gave Bellevue a stranglehold on the match. "They definitely showed that they're capable of playing to that level," Kuns said. "It's our own mistakes that killed us. Everybody is trying to find their sweet spot and what is going to work. We'll get there. With having a match every other day, we only have a day to practice and put stuff in." The Lady Red went wire-to-wire with the lead in the third set, jumping out to a quick 4-1 lead. Bellevue was able to win points in bunches, not letting the Polar Bears string a run together. Back-to-back double-hit errors on Margaretta was followed by a kill from Cramer to make it 17-10. Turinsky and LaPata smacked one final kill apiece and a hitting error by the Polar Bears gave Bellevue the win. "I definitely would have liked us to have further apart scores in the second and third sets," Petitti said. "I think we played way too sloppy for my personal liking. We had a lot of unforced errors, so we'll definitely be sure to clean that up." Saylor finished with 15 digs and seven kills for Margaretta while Ella Limberios led the defense with 19 digs. Tarah Hershey added 17 digs and 12 assists for the Polar Bears. Lillian Belak smacked four kills. "They're all very, very solid athletes and I tell them that every single day," Kuns said. "The changes we make or whatever we're doing, they're capable of doing it." Not only was Baptista stout throughout serving, she was a menace on defense. Baptista picked up 15 digs to pace the Bellevue defense. "I've had Kate since she was a freshman," said Petitti of the junior. "She started as a libero as a freshman and I have been so impressed with how much she has grown. She is a coach's dream. She listens and wants to get better. Everything you tell her she soaks up like a sponge. She is absolutely relentless back there." Ellie Freitag registered 26 assists and seven digs for Bellevue, which is 1-0 in Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division play. The Lady Red take on co-defending league champion Columbian (4-3, 0-1) on the road Thursday. The Tornadoes beat Bellevue in four sets and three sets in two meetings last year. "I'm really, really excited," Petitti said. "It's great to get wins. Monroeville was a huge match for us and beating them was a huge confidence booster. We've been tested since then, but there's a lot of weight behind Thursday. Beating Tiffin Columbian would be huge for us. "We're just really excited for the challenge. We're a big team too and we want to be considered one of the best."