by Kent Harshbarger

Bullettes sweep opener

The Mediapolis Bullettes opened the 2005 volleyball season with a three game sweep of BGM at Brooklyn on August 30. Mepo won by scores of 25-17, 25-8 and 25-19.

Perhaps due to the two-hour bus ride to get the match or more likely due to a somewhat inexperienced line up, the Bullettes did not play well in the first game. "We really came out flat early. A lot of that was inexperience I think and BGM came out sky high and playing well," Mepo head coach Dennis Jandrey said.  However, the Bullettes came on strong at the end of the first game to pick up the win. "We came back and played well at the end of the first game and that carried over to the second game. We played well in that one too," Jandrey said.

Maybe the Bullettes played too well in the second game and were over confident heading into what proved to be the final contest of the night. "I think we came out in game three thinking the match was over. BGM got on a roll and we had to fight to take control again. That was probably our inexperience again. You can't do that. When you get someone down you have to keep them there. We have to learn that," Jandrey said.

Jandrey was pleased with the balance in his offense. "We had pretty good balance in our offense. We tried to spread it around a little bit. That was good to see," Jandrey said.  Monica Holsteen and Kami Keller each had seven kills in the match. Bethany Weber had five kills and Marissa Dideriksen three. Keller had four kills in the opening game and Holsteen three. Weber led with two kills in game two and had three in the final contest, as did Holsteen. Molly Petersen had all 23 assists for the Bullettes.

Defensively, Weber led with five blocks and Keller had three. Mindy Fye had seven digs and Brittany Griffith six.
As a team, the Bullettes served 63 of 67 (94%) with one ace. They finished with 26 kills, 11 blocks and 26 digs.
"We have to be more consistent and be ready to play all the time," Jandrey said following the non-conference win.
Mediapolis also swept to victory in both the fresh-soph and junior varsity matches. The fresh-soph won by scores of 25-8 and 25-12. The junior varsity posted 25-12 and 25-8 wins.

Kasey Abel had three aces and three assists and Carmen Parnell two kills in the fresh-soph win. Carmen Ertz had nine assists and Katie Hollingsworth nine kills in the junior varsity victory. Kaci McLaughlin and Abel added two aces each in that win.
 

Mepo (25,25, 25) BGM (17, 8, 19)
Player serve/ace k a b d
Dideriksen 16-16-0 3 0 1 2
Weber 8-9-0 5 0 5 1
Griffith 11-11-0 1 0 0 6
Petersen 11-11-1 2 23 .5 4
Keller 11-13-0 7 0 3 3
Darbyshire 6-7-0 0 0 0 1
Holsteen 0-0-0 7 0 1 2
Fye 0-0-0 0 0 0 7
Hollingsworth 0-0-0 1 0 .5 0
TEAM 63-67-1 26 23 11 26
Bullettes Record: Match (All 1-0, Division 0-0), Games (All 3-0, Division 0-0).