ELKTON — After falling to Tri-State Christian earlier in the season, Tome returned the favor with a fast start in Monday’s MIL meeting against the Crusaders.
The Titans knocked off Tri-State in straight sets of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-17. The pair of MIL powers returned points and remained deadlocked throughout much of the first set. With Tri-State holding a 23-22 advantage, the Titans rattled off three straight points with a kill and a set-clinching ace from Grace Bradfield.
Bradfield felt that energy helped propel her team through the ensuing two sets.
“I definitely think it’s a balance between staying calm and getting hype, during the mistakes keeping your head high and just really playing out the points and then putting it all out there,” Bradfield said of her team’s start. “So high energy is definitely needed to get the game going.”
After exchanging points through much of the second set, Tome used an 11-4 run to hold a 24-17 lead with a chance to take a 2-0 match advantage. The Crusaders answered with six straight points, which included blocks from Lizzy Harris and multiple aces from Kyla Guthrie, to pull within a point. The Titans closed out the second set with another kill from Bradfield.
Early on, Tome could not to find gaps in Tri-State’s defense, which kept rallies alive. Tome head coach Ben Davis said he made slight tweaks throughout the night, moving his athletes no more than a couple feet, to help turn defense into offense.
“Just tiny stuff. We moved one player two feet, another player three feet, we moved Lily Cronin six feet,” Davis said of the adjustments. “Sometimes that is all you need.”
Bradfield said the ability to drum up points at the front of the net came down to her connection with setter Audrey Bullerman. Bullerman said developing chemistry with her teammates is vital to being successful at her position.
“It’s a lot of confidence,” Bullerman said. “If they miss and then say ‘give me the ball back right now’ I will because ninety percent of the time they get a kill off of it. So it’s a lot of trust with them and a lot of just being there for each other and supporting each other.”
The Crusaders jumped out to a 4-1 start in the final set, before the Titans responded with a four-point swing that put Tome in front the rest of the way. The Titans outscored Tri-State 18-11 in the remaining portion of the set. Tome’s victory was capped off by a block at the front of the net by Bullerman.
“A lot of the time it’s absolutely just physical until the last second. Physically where is the ball, physically where is the hitter and then reading that and getting to it,” Bullerman said of the block. “I didn’t even think about the fact that we won until after my feet hit the ground and then I could let the excitement come in.”
Tri-State will host Delaware Valley Classical School on Tuesday, followed by a road meeting with Providence Christian on Thursday. Tome will visit Gunston on Thursday. After finishing third in the league last fall, Bradfield said it is a goal of hers to try and get the Titans back on top of the MIL. Tri-State and Tome met in the 2021 and 2022 league championships.
“After last year placing third, we know we want more and we know we are going to get more out of the rest of the season,” Bradfield said. “I think just pushing forward and going for that number one spot, that’s fueling us.”
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