Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School senior Kailee Pedersen is blocked by the Amherst duo of Heather Pearson and Grace Moe in the first set of Bonduel’s 3-0 loss to the Falcons at home Tuesday.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School sophomore McKenzie Wollenberg passes a ball during the Bears’ final set, a 27-25 loss, Tuesday at home against Amherst.
Amherst middle hitters Heather Pearson and Geena Jensen controlled the net play, combining for 26 blocks in the Falcons’ sweep of Bonduel in Central Wisconsin Conference-8 action Tuesday.
In addition to 14 blocks, Pearson posted 21 kills, and outside hitter Kendra Dombrowski added 19 kills in a 25-17, 25-14, 27-25 road victory.
“Amherst just kind of came out gangbusters hitting real well right away, and we struggled with that,” Bonduel head coach Kim Bodoh said. “We struggled with their blocking.”
Amherst, which finished sixth in the CWC-8 last season, knew it would have enough height at the net, but wasn’t sure what to expect from the Bears.
“We knew heightwise, we had a little bit of an advantage, but overall, we don’t really know what to expect when we come in,” Amherst head coach Beth Cegielski said.
Bodoh would have liked to see her hitters make more adjustments during the game.
“We can’t just smash the ball in the middle every time because sometimes that doesn’t work when we are up against big blockers,” Bodoh said. “That’s something we definitely need to work on.”
The Bears (3-6, 0-1 CWC-8) made a late run in the third set. Trailing 17-14, Emily Sorenson posted a kill before going to the service line and rattling off three serves to give Bonduel the 18-17 lead.
Holding a 19-18 lead, the Bears missed three serves before the Falcons (2-0, 1-0 CWC-8) rallied for the victory.
“(Missed serves) were at crucial times when we really needed the points,” Bodoh said of her team’s seven mistakes on the serve. “Not really happy about the serving tonight.”
“I just feel like we need that mental toughness to push us through those last couple of points,” Bodoh said. “All of the sudden they play scared instead of playing confident in their skills. That’s just something they need to work on mentally.”
Sorenson led Bonduel with 13 kills and three blocks, while Kailee Pedersen added 19 digs to go with her nine kills.
Setter Brynn Reinke posted 23 assists for the Bears.