Schools

Volleyball: Falcons Top Broadneck, Stay Perfect

The Severna Park volleyball team defeated Broadneck in four games Tuesday to improve to 9-0 on the season.

Senior Kim Bell has been on the Severna Park volleyball team for four years but had never beaten rival Broadneck.

That all changed on Tuesday night.

Thanks to some solid defense, 10 kills from senior Mel Kapelewski, and 14 digs from sophomore Sophie Hoekstra, the Severna Park volleyball team (9-0) defeated Broadneck (4-3) in four games Tuesday night 25-11,17-25, 25-14, 25-23.

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“It is so great. We have been waiting for this since our freshman year,” Bell said. “I have never beaten Broadneck and I have been on this team for four years. I am so happy.”

Severna Park got off to a quick start and easily defeated the Bruins 25-11 in the first game—led by three Kapelewski kills. But like they have before, the Falcons struggled in game two. Thanks to a few miscues and defensive lapses Severna Park fell to Broadneck 25-17.

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“This team sometimes does that,” said Falcon coach Tim Dunbar. “We did it against Spalding in game two, we did it again Mount de Sales in game two, sometimes we just kind of blank and forget how to play well.”

Severna Park came back strong in games three and four and played particularly well in front of the net. Senior Abbie Hoekstra recorded four blocks for the team and Kapelewski put the game away with a few key kills.

“We worked on blocking a lot in practice this week because we noticed in Glen Burnie that we weren’t blocking well at all,” Dunbar said. “So it is nice to see that payoff and they made the adjustments on their own.”

Kapelewski had back-to-back kills in game three to make the score 19-12 and 20-12 and followed that up a few plays later with another to increase the Falcon’s lead 21-13.

Game four was a much closer victory for Severna Park than the others. Broadneck took an early 10-7 lead thanks to a serving run led by Katie Byrne. During the stretch the Falcons struggled to return the ball and hit one into the net.

However, then it was Broadneck’s turn for miscues. Adriana Castille took over serving for the Falcons. The Bruins let several balls drop and Severna Park took the lead 12-10.

Tied 23-23, Severna Park finally took over thanks to a big kill from Hoekstra to take the lead 24-23. On the match point, Broadneck's Maria Lim lunged to the far side of the court to return the ball, only to have it sail past out of bounds.

Severna Park finally got the victory over Broadneck.

“It feels great for them,” Dunbar said. “When I was coaching 15 years ago we didn’t lose to them all the time. But now Broadneck’s program is really improving and they have great players over there and it is a tough team. So it’s a good win.”

The last time Severna Park volleyball defeated Broadneck was in 2009, so the long-awaited victory is extra special—especially for the seniors.

“It’s just awesome. I’m so excited,” Bell said.

See Also:

  • Volleyball: Falcons Eyeing Undefeated Season
  • Five Questions with SP Volleyball's Katherine Gowland


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