BD loses golden opportunity for TCC win

DEERFIELD – The Lady Patriots missed a golden opportunity to win their first Tri-County Conference match of the season, falling 25-17, 22-25, 17-25 and 23-25 to Summerfield.

“It was a tough loss. We missed some serves at key times and then couldn’t convert on the attacking,” said BD coach Michelle Bearinger. “We also had some tip coverage miscommunications that cost us big points in rallies. We played hard but just didn’t want it bad enough.”

Britton Deerfield (0-4 in the TCC) looked terrific in closing out the first game. Down 13-12, BD took advantage of a Summerfield error to tie the game and put the ball in the hands of junior Sydne McMullen, who fired off four aces during an eight-point rally. Summerfield got within four points but BD snuffed out the run. Allison Unsicker was responsible for the game’s final three points, landing three kills.

Things went south from there for the Lady Patriots. Summerfield jumped to 7-1 and 11-2 leads in the second game. BD did manage to narrow the gap, with McMullen and Unsicker doing most of the heavy lifting. Down 16-9, McMullen had two kills, a block and tip during a four-point rally to help BD back into the game. Down 22-14, McMullen landed a kill and then served up and ace. Unsicker provided the next two points with a kill and a block. When the next Summerfield shot fell out of bounds, BD was down 21-19.  After a Summerfield point, BD appeared to close the gap with a slam from Rebecca Wielfaert, but officials awarded the point to Summerfield due to a violation. That two-point swing proved costly. Wielfaert responded with another spike to the Bulldog floor, Tessa Medrea served up an ace and then Unsicker’s block landed on Summerfield’s floor. But instead of being up 23-22, B-D was down 23-22. Summermfield scored the next two points to end the game and tie the match at one.

BD’s Kasey Ryan opened game three with an ace, but it went downhill quickly. Summerfield scored the next eight points and went on to a commanding 17-5 lead and 25-17 victory.

Game 4 was a see-saw affair. Medrea landed three straight aces early to give BD a 4-2 lead. Later in the game, after another ace from Medrea gave BD a 13-9 lead, the Bulldogs rattled off five straight points, with three tips catching the unsuspecting Patriot defense and a miscommunication at the root of another point. The two teams battled, with Summerfield taking an 18-17 lead. Kasey Ryan tied the game with a deft tip that caught the Bulldogs flatfooted. Then McMullen landed a block and spike on Summerfield floor for a 20-18 lead as BD tried to force a game 5. After a kill from Wielfaert and an ace from Traci Huddleston, BD held a 23-20 lead. But Huddleston’s next serve went into the net. Summerfield was awarded another point when a BD player touched the net on a shot. Laura Hewitt tied the game for Summerfield with an ace and then clinched the victory with another for the 25-23 victory.

McMullen, who was dominant at times, finished with four aces, 12 points, 10 kills and two blocks. Unsicker had four kills and three blocks.  Ryan had 19 assists and two aces. Medrea finished with seven aces and 12 points. Jasmine Jacob had two aces among her eight service points.