Busey, Van Buren out-duel Elmwood

BLOOMDALE -- When Van Buren and Elmwood met Monday, it was dueling powerful hitters who both wore No. 6 that took center stage.Van Buren's Sasha Busey vs. Elmwood's Liliana Blachuta.In the end, Busey's career-high 28 kills -- one off the school record -- led the Black Knights to a 25-18, 21-25, 25-21, 25-17 non-league win."They were both bringing it," said VB coach Mark Bunn of Busey and Blachuta. "Sasha is awesome. She does a lot for our team. She can jump and she's in shape this year. It's fun right now."Busey had eight kills in the first set, nine in the third set, and seven in the fourth set. No matter what Elmwood did to defend her, she was able to get around it - or over it."She's so good," said Elmwood coach Archer Spencer of the Van Buren senior. "I don't think we have played anybody like her yet. We tried to get our middles there fast enough, but half of the time, she was honestly swinging over our block."After splitting the first two sets, Van Buren (5-4) took control of the match in the third set. The Black Knights raced out to a 10-3 lead after ripping off six straight points. Busey and Selma Brant each recorded kills while Brylee Ponn put down two in the run.But, Elmwood (4-5) fought back and cut within two points at 14-12. But, two points were all the closer the Royals would get. Busey was almost unstoppable, putting down six kills in a matter of seven points - the only other point was a Blachuta kill, of course.That helped Van Buren to a 20-13 advantage. Elmwood again surged back within 22-20 after a block by Cara Frank and kill by Blachuta. But, Kennedy Jones and Busey tallied kills to give VB the 2-1 lead."I knew they lost their setter and stud middle hitter," said Bunn of Elmwood. "But man, they have some hitters on that team. They've gotten better from what I've seen so far this year."The Black Knights had no thoughts of going deeper into the night by putting the match away in the fourth set. Elmwood led 9-7 after a kill by Frank and service ace from Kate Keiffer, but Van Buren responded with seven of the next eight points for a 14-10 lead.Later, three straight points by the Black Knights was enough breathing room to finish off Elmwood. Busey put down kill No. 28 and added an ace for a 21-15 advantage. Brant and Ponn added blasts before back-to-back putaways by Jones gave Van Buren the win."We just started being more fundamental," Bunn said. "We started playing together as a team and finding what our strengths were. I thought our defense got a lot better and started reading what their hitters were doing. They set a lot of balls to the outside and I thought we did a good job defending that."Elmwood raced out to a 6-1 lead in the opening set before the Black Knights really settled in. Van Buren answered with the next nine points capped on two blocks by Busey and a kill from McKenna Morey.The Royals never led the set again as VB ballooned the lead to 17-10 after Brant's service ace. Elmwood drew as close as five points, but Busey and Ponn each blasted kills to give the Black Knights the early lead."That was a nice win because we were down 6-1," Bunn said. "We had to pull it together. Our libero is out in concussion protocol. That was clearing out our bearings to where everybody was at. After that, we started rolling."Elmwood didn't go quietly. With Set 2 tied at 17, the Royals meticulously won enough points to take a lead and fend off the Black Knights. Mallory Miller and Frank each put down kills and after Ponn scored for VB, a kill by Miller gave Elmwood a 20-18 lead.The two went back-and-forth until the Royals' lead was just 22-21. But, Elmwood took the last three points of the set including kills from Blachuta and Mariela Garcia to knot the match at a set apiece."I think our serves were really on point in the second set," Spencer said. "We had four or five aces. We got them out of system a lot. We targeted their setter."Blachuta finished with 23 kills for Elmwood."She's a huge part of our team," said Spencer of the 5-foot-10 junior. "She's honestly our anchor, especially on the offensive end. She goes out there and gives 100 percent effort."Busey added eight blocks and two aces to her impressive stat line. Jones finished with 21 digs and seven kills, Brant tallied 17 digs and six kills, Lance snagged 22 digs, and Brooke Ingwerson facilitated the offense with 42 assists and seven digs."I still think we can improve serve receive and defensively," Bunn said. "I thought that was our strength coming into the season, but we've had a couple road blocks. I think that has to be what we improve on as we continue in the season." Blachuta added four aces while Emma Lee registered a team-high 27 digs.