Two days, two sweeps, but it wasn’t necessarily easy for the Pine Bush volleyball team.

Taylor Pannell had 15 kills and 5 blocks as the Bushmen defeated Valley Central 3-0. They won the match, 25-14, 25-22, 25-13.

“We played a little slower than usual. We’re coming off a game last night,” Pine Bush coach Mel Amelio said. “Their intensity was low, but it’s what I expect from girls in high school. It depends on which team decides to show up.”

Taylor Jones had 16 assists, 5 kills, 4 digs and three aces as she works her way back into the Pine bush lineup.

“We are getting her back into the game, which helps quite a bit,” Amelio said. “She adds some stability. She goes for anything, which is nice. Our seniors really do take charge.”

Alandra Hasbrouck had 17 assists, 4 digs, two kills, while Rileigh Meyer had 11 kills, 2 digs and 2 aces.

Michelle Delgado led Valley Central (5-5, 1-3 OCIAA-II) with 12 digs, eight kills, four assists and three aces. Sarah Congelosi had 16 digs.
“We have great defense,” Valley Central coach Paige Van Pelt said. “They have great defense. We were struggling. We knew we had to go around Taylor Pannell in the middle. I thought they did defense, but we still have things to work on.”
Bianca Staples had six blocks, six kills, and four aces and she was at the service line in the third game when the Vikings turned a 9-5 deficit to a tie game.

Pine Bush had initially built a 7-1 lead.

“Our sophomore, Bianca, she came back and brought us back in the game,” Van Pelt said. “We’ve struggled with coming back, but she brought us back, which was nice.”

The closest of the three games was the second, which Pine Bush won 25-22 in a back and forth contest.

“We played smart,” Valley Central coach Paige Van Pelt said. “We found the holes. We found where they were leaving the court open. When we did that, we did a good job of it.”

Pine Bush took the lead for good when Riley Dimsey broke an 11-11 tie by tapping the ball into an empty hole in the Valley Central defense and eventually opened a five-point lead.

After playing on two straight days, Pine Bush (9-2, 5-0 OCIAA-II) was off until Monday, when they were scheduled to face Washingtonville on the road, starting a stretch of three straight road games. They won’t return home until Oct. 18 when they host Middletown.

“It’s the same way we were last year,” Amelio said. “We lost three games before going into the postseason. We lost two this year, which we shouldn’t have. We just have to work hard and push through mentally. We have the skills, but it depends on their mental capacity that day.”

The Vikings (5-5, 1-3 OCIAA-II) are hoping some home cooking turns around their league record as five of their seven games to finish the season are at Valley Central High School.

“I think we’re doing well,” Van Pelt said. “We’re progressing, which is good. We’re getting better as the games are going on, which is a positive.”