POTOSI – When Belmont plays Potosi in any sport, you can usually throw the teams’ records right out the window. In this rivalry, records don’t matter. Results do.
    Belmont disregarded Potosi’s unbeaten record when the two teams met on the volleyball court last Thursday night, and the results were stunning as the visiting Lady Braves knocked off the league-leading Chieftains, 3-1, in a Six Rivers West showdown at PHS on Sept. 27.
    “It is always nice to beat Potosi because of the strength of their volleyball program. I don’t even know if the girls knew that Potosi was undefeated in conference. I try not to talk about other teams records. Instead, we talked about our scores from the last time we played and what we needed to change and improve on,” said Belmont head coach Lauren Drury.
    Potosi beat the Braves by a 3-1 decision back on Sept. 4, but the second time around Drury’s squad turned the table using a strong night at the net (26 kills and 13 blocks) to hand the Chieftains their first league loss.
    “That was the first night that everything really seemed to click. That was the kind of volleyball that I’ve been waiting for my girls to play all season,” added Drury.
    Potosi (7-1 SRW) grabbed an early lead with a 25-17 win in set one, but the Braves (6-12 overall, 4-5) stormed back to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-21 decision in set two and then they jumped into the lead with a 25-17 win of their own in set three.
    The teams battled it out in the fourth set before the Braves pulled away for a 25-23 win to take the match.
    “Our struggles this season have been seeing the court, covering and just being mentally strong. We have been working non-stop on covering and passing the last few weeks,” stated Drury. “I am hoping this will be a huge confidence boost for the girls. I think this is exactly what we needed. I can’t wait to see what this confidence can do for us the rest of the season.”
    Junior Jordyn Kamps led the team with 12 kills and nine digs, while sophomore Keegan Kamps filled the stat book with eight kills, six blocks, eight digs, five assists and one ace in the victory.
    Senior Cassie McCarthy chipped in with six kills and four blocks for the Braves, and sophomore setter Katelyn Schobert racked up 27 assists, seven digs and two aces in the match.
    Senior Allie Linneman added two blocks and junior Audrey Wedig served up a team-high three aces to aid the Belmont win. 
    At Belmont, on Tuesday, Sept. 25, the Lady Braves’ celebrated Parents’ Night by out-lasting the visiting Benton Zephyrs, 3-2, in SRW action.
    The hosts opened up a 2-0 advantage in the match after defeating Benton, 26-24 and 25-13 in the first two sets, but the Zephyrs (1-6) charged back with wins of 17-25 and 20-25 in the next two sets to force a decisive fifth set.
    The Braves leapt out early and took control of the Zephyrs in set five, rolling to a 15-8 decision to lock up their first 3-2 victory of the season.
    Keegan Kamps led the way with team highs in kills (11), digs (21) and aces (three), while dishing out five assists as well for the Braves.
    Katelyn Schobert distributed 16 assists with Jordyn Kamps pounding down seven kills and Brianna Riechers adding five kills, while Cassie McCarthy tallied 12 digs and Audrey Wedig followed with six.
    Sarah Redfearn paced the Zephyrs with a match-high 15 kills, and Alyssa Leeser handed out 12 assists.
    Belmont returns to the court with SRW contests at Shullsburg on Thursday, Oct. 4, and at home against River Ridge on Tuesday, Oct. 9. In between, the Lady Braves will participate in the annual North Crawford Invitational in Soldiers Grove on Saturday, Oct. 6, beginning at 9 a.m.

Belmont….  17    25    25    25
Potosi….…  25    21    17    23

Benton……  24  13  25  25    8
Belmont….  26  25  17  20  15