SHULLSBURG — After suffering a pair of tough losses to open conference play, Belmont has been on a bit of a roll in the Six Rivers West posting three victories over the past week to move into third-place in the league standings.
    The Lady Braves (5-3-1 overall, 3-2 SRW) kept their winning streak alive by rallying from an early 1-0 deficit to defeat the host Shullsburg Miners, 18-25, 28-26, 25-14, 25-18, in a prep volleyball match at SHS on Monday, Sept. 12.
    Belmont got off to a good start on Monday night grabbing a quick 12-6 lead on the Miners (3-8-1, 1-3) in the opening set, but a 13-point service run by Shullsburg senior Cora Holland– aided by a variety of tips and kills by junior middle hitter Brianna Leahy– erased the deficit and put the hosts up 19-12.
    Shullsburg went on to claim a 25-18 win in set one on a game-ending kill by junior Kindle Cook.
    The Miners looked like they were going to do it to the Braves again in set two after erasing an early 10-5 deficit on a seven-point service run by junior Nicole Teutschmann, however this time the Braves were ready to put up a fight.
    The lead see-sawed between the two teams the whole way until a kill by junior Briana Ernst put the Braves ahead to stay at 27-26. Sophomore Nicole Knebel followed with an ace to seal a 28-26 decision and even the match at 1-1.
    The Braves rode the momentum into set three and quickly put away the Miners, 25-14, to grab a 2-1 advantage, and then used back-to-back aces by senior Caitlyn Gilbertson to open up a 15-11 lead in set four. Belmont rolled on to a 25-18 win in that set to secure the match.
    Ernst finished the night with 14 kills and junior Kassandra Palzkill chipped in with 13 kills, while Gilbertson recorded a match-high seven blocks. Knebel distributed 37 assists and tallied four aces, and senior libero Maddie Rand registered 12 digs for the Braves.
    Leahy notched eight kills and four blocks to lead the Miners, while Holland tallied 17 assists, 14 digs and two aces along with Teutschmann. Faith Ubersox led Shullsburg with 15 digs.
    Shullsburg hosts Highland in a SRW match on Monday, Sept. 19, while Belmont is off until Thursday, Sept. 22, when they return to SRW action at Highland.
    At Belmont, on Tuesday, Sept. 6, the Lady Braves had to work hard for it but when the dust settled they had themselves their first conference win of the season with a 3-0 sweep over the visiting Potosi Chieftains.
    Belmont outlasted the Chieftains (1-2) in set one, 25-23, and opened up a 2-0 advantage with a 25-20 win in set two. In set three, the team went back and forth with one another until the Braves came away with 30-28 triumph to seal the sweep.
    Caitlyn Gilbertson had eight kills and two blocks and Kassandra Palzkill added seven kills to lead the Braves at the net. Nicole Knebel handed out 20 assists and served up a team-high four kills, while Maddie Rand tallied 16 digs to pace the Belmont defense.
    Potosi was led by Abby Kaiser’s 18-kill, 10-dig performance. She also had an ace and a block.
    Brooke McKillip contributed 22 digs, while Hannah Udelhoven tallied 11 assists and Kate Nusbaum added 10 assists.
    At Cassville, on Thursday, Sept. 8, the Braves served up 32 aces and hammered down 45 kills on the night to defeat the host Comets, 25-17, 25-27, 25-18, 25-22, in a SRW clash.
    Nicole Knebel registered 10 of the aces to go along with 34 assists and eight digs to lead the Braves. Maddie Rand added eight kills and 18 digs, while Caitlyn Gilbertson tallied 14 kills, five aces and two blocks.
    At Benton, on Tuesday, Sept. 6, the host Zephyrs topped the Lady Miners, 25-14, in the opening set, and then steamrolled their way to wins of 25-4 and 25-9 to earn a SRW sweep.
    Brianna Leahy had four kills, two blocks and eight digs in the match, while Cora Holland provided seven assists and two aces.
    At Seneca, on Saturday, Sept. 10, the Lady Miners posted a 1-2 overall record at the Seneca Volleyball Invitational, defeating De Soto, 2-1, and getting swept by Brookwood, 2-0, and Benton, 2-0, along the way.
    Brianna Leahy scored 17 kills and four blocks, Cora Holland tallied 35 assists and McKailah Strang recorded 25 digs for the Miners.
   
Belmont…………..  18    28    25    25
Shullsburg……….  25    26    14    18
Belmont Leaders– Kills: Briana Ernst 14, Kassandra Palzkill 13. Blocks: Caitlyn Gilbertson 7. Assists: Nicole Knebel 37. Aces: Knebel 4. Digs: Maddie Rand 12. Shullsburg Leaders– Kills: Brianna Leahy 8. Blocks: Leahy 4. Assists: Cora Holland 17. Aces: Holland 2, Nicole Teutschmann 2. Digs: Faith Ubersox 15, Holland 14.
At Shullsburg on Monday, Sept. 12

Potosi………….  23     20     28
Belmont……….  25     25     30
Belmont Leaders– Kills: Caitlyn Gilbertson 8, Kassandra Palzkill 7. Blocks: Gilbertson 2, Elsie de Haan 2, Sadie Willborn 2. Assists: Nicole Knebel 20. Aces: Knebel 4, Dakotah Meylor-Seeber 3. Digs: Maddie Rand 16, Maddy Travis 9.
At Belmont on Tuesday, Sept. 6

Belmont………..  25    25    25    25
Cassville……….  17    27    18    22
Belmont Leaders– Kills: Caitlyn Gilbertson 14, Kassandra Palzkill 11, Briana Ernst 9. Blocks: Gilbertson 2. Assists: Nicole Knebel 34. Aces: Knebel 10, Maddie Rand 8, Gilbertson 5, Trinity Rucker 4. Digs: Rand 18, Knebel 8.
At Cassville on Thursday, Sept. 8

Shullsburg……….  14       4       9
Benton……………  25     25     25
Shullsburg Leaders– Kills: Brianna Leahy 0. Blocks: Madalyn Scott 0. Assists: Cora Holland 0. Aces: 0 Faith Ubersox 0. Digs: Cook 0. Benton Leaders– Kills: Brianna Leahy 0. Blocks: Madalyn Scott 0. Assists: Cora Holland 0. Aces: 0 Faith Ubersox 0. Digs: Cook 0.
At Benton on Tuesday, Sept. 6

SENECA INVITATIONAL
Team Results: Benton def. Shullsburg, 2-0; Brookwood def. Shullsburg, 2-0; Shullsburg def. De Soto, 2-1.

Shullsburg Stats– Kills: Brianna Leahy 17. Blocks: Leahy 4. Assists: Cora Holland 35. Aces: Callie Jerry 1. Digs: McKailah Strang 25, Faith Ubersox 12.
At Seneca on Saturday, Sept. 10