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Photo by Kevin Anderson

Bonner Springs junior Emily Herre (right) gets to the ball at the top of the net against the Eudora defense of Madison Oliver Tuesday night at the BSHS volleyball quad.

In finishing its first quadrangle of the year with a 1-2 record, the Bonner Springs volleyball team showed it has some fight in it but also has room for improvement, coach Kerri Jennings said.

"We started out really strong and worked well together as a team," said Jennings, who is in her first year as head coach and was a member of the 1984 BSHS state championship volleyball team. "Unfortunately, we may have been satisfied with winning one. Maybe we used everything we had in that one match. I was hoping for more as the night went on."

Bonner Springs played host Tuesday night to Basehor-Linwood, Baldwin and Eudora in the quad.

In the first match BSHS faced Baldwin and fought hard in each game. The Braves lost the first game 25-23, but bounced back to win the second game 32-30, staving off defeat several times. In game three Baldwin came out with more energy than Bonner and communicated well early. Behind the leadership of Chelsea Crawford and Starian Porchia, the great passing of Amber Barnes and Nancy DeLeon, and skilled play above the net by Jessie Kelly, Bonner stormed back for a 25-22 victory in the match-deciding game.

Bonner then faced Basehor and nearly had the Bobcats defeated in the first game of the match, leading 22-15. The Braves, however, just could not slam the door on the Bobcats and eventually fell 26-24. Basehor smelled blood and took advantage, beating the shaken Bonner squad 25-9 to seal the match.

Things didn't get any easier for BSHS when it faced Eudora. The effort was there for the Braves but the legs just were not, as they fell 25-12 and 25-7 to end with a 1-2 record for the evening.

"In the last two matches we really dug ourselves holes, and it being the first night of the season (a coach) isn't really sure how their team will react to adversity - how individuals will react," said Jennings. "We all learned something tonight."

Bonner next plays host to Immaculata at 5 p.m. Thursday Sept. 11.