Box Score

The NB Thunder volleyball team picked up the program’s first-ever victory against a public school in a 3-0 sweep of Marion at the Athletic Performance Center on Tuesday.

The Thunder (3-1) defeated the Bulldogs (4-3), 28-26, 25-11, 25-18, in a match that Coach Chris Valdez proclaimed as the biggest regular season win in school history.

“This wasn’t just another win,” Valdez said excitedly after the match.  “This was the culmination of four years of hard work and trying to get these girls recognized in a community that’s known around the state for its volleyball.  To play against a local public school and perform the way that we did establishes that we are now a program that can compete with anybody in the area,” Valdez continued.

“New Braunfels has always been looked at as a top-tier volleyball community,” Valdez continued.  “Canyon and New Braunfels (High School) are historically elite programs in Texas. All the other schools in the county are striving to be at that level. And so are we.  That’s our community, too, and tonight we proved we belong in it.”

The most exciting moments of the match all came in the first set where the Thunder had to scratch their way back into the contest after a slow start.  The Bulldogs (4-3) built as much as a five-point advantage late in the set, 19-14, and reached their first set point with a 24-21 lead.

NBT staved off three set points, scoring on a Peyton Callas kill to regain the serve, a slam by Selah Clayton, and a Marion hitting error.  Clayton and Avalee Lenard blocked the next ball to give the Thunder a 25-24 edge and set point.

A pair of Thunder hitting errors sent the advantage right back to Marion, but the Bulldogs were unable to convert their fourth set point.  Senior Sophia Avila landed a teardrop kill from the back row to recapture the serve.  NBT then scored the next two points, finishing the comeback on a Maddie Heiser ace.

“Composure, composure, composure,” said Valdez of the first set.  “We never felt like we had our backs against the wall.  We knew we had a slow start.  It took one huddle to say let’s clean it up and if we play our style of volleyball, we knew we could pull this off.”

Once the Thunder had stolen the momentum, they turned up the heat.

“From Game 1 to Game 2, we were just more physical, playing faster, playing better defense,” Valdez said.

The senior trio of Lenard, Avila, and Junie Flores each tallied seven kills to lead the squad.  Flores also scored on four aces while Clayton finished the night with four kills and seven blocks.

“I don’t think there was a standout player,” Valdez noted.  “Everybody did their job.  It was a total team win.”

The Thunder return to the court on Thursday night when they host Austin Hyde Park in a 7 p.m. match at the Mill Street Gym.