PENDLETON — Postseason sports are about surviving and advancing.
New Palestine volleyball head coach Kelli Gabehart admitted her team didn’t play its best match, but it did do the things necessary to move on to the semifinal round of the Pendleton Heights Sectional.
In a quarterfinal round match Tuesday, New Palestine (26-5) defeated Richmond (14-12) 3-0 to earn a spot in a 10 a.m. Saturday semifinal contest against rival Mt. Vernon (16-15), a 3-1 winner over Greenfield-Central in Tuesday’s second quarterfinal.
It was the second time in less than two weeks the Dragons had beaten the Red Devils. In the Richmond Invitational on Sept. 30, a tournament the Dragons won, New Pal beat Richmond 2-0 by set scores of 25-18, 25-20.
On Tuesday, New Palestine won 25-17, 25-21, 25-20.
“I think we had a little bit of sectional jitters to start,” Gabehart said. “There’s just a different feeling about the postseason. I think it showed a little bit with our slow start. The important thing is to survive and advance and that’s what we did. We did it in three sets. The girls know we could have played better, but we won.”
In the first set, New Palestine got down 8-2 before Gabehart decided her girls might benefit from a timeout talk.
Following the break, the Dragons went on a 14-5 run, helping force a Richmond timeout.
“We talked about playing our volleyball,” Gabehart said. “We’ve talked all season long about having fun and playing with energy and joy. When you see teams out there that are just loving what they are doing and they work hard … It’s such a mental game, volleyball, when you have the momentum and that energy it can be a big game-changer. That’s what I talked about in that first timeout. I wanted to see Dragon volleyball.”
A big boost came from the Dragons’ bench.
Sophomore outside hitter Natalie Sevier scored the first set’s last four points on kills. She had 10 in the opening set and a match-high 19.
“She absolutely (sparked us),” Gabehart said. “For a while it was like 10 kills on 12 attempts. (We needed to) get her the ball. She played really well in our last match against Mt. Vernon and was a big spark off the bench and again (Tuesday). You gotta love that when she can provide that for your team.”
After seven second-set ties, New Palestine took the lead for good on a kill from senior Bella Brownfield, who finished with a double-double by recording 11 kills and 14 digs. Brownfield took advantage of a Richmond overpass for a quick kill and 20-19 lead. Senior Rachel Burke followed with a service ace. Brownfield finished the match with a kill and service ace for a 25-21 win.
New Palestine led throughout the third set, but weren’t able to put away a pesky Richmond team until late in the game. Three straight Sevier kills gave the Dragons a 23-19 lead. A New Pal net violation gave Richmond a sideout, but a Red Devil service error and attack error ended the match.
Setter Sam Gooding had 34 assists. Azure Flagle recorded 15 digs and Makaeli Johnson had 11. Burke added four blocks.
“We did a good job fighting through some adversity,” Gabehart said of her team’s play. “We found some great positives with Natalie in the front row. It’s about surviving and getting that win and moving on. That was the talk at the end of the game. We did it, let’s move on to the next one.”
