BBCC 3-2 at Spokane Falls CC Invitational

SPOKANE - Big Bend volleyball's resurgence continued this past weekend at the Spokane Falls CC Invitational.

The Vikings finished 3-2 in Spokane, scoring wins over Chemeketa, Mt. Hood and Clark.

Big Bend began the tournament against perennial East region powerhouse Spokane and was edged in three sets (25-23, 25-23, 25-18).

Despite not showing the growth head coach Steve Duncan has come to expect from his team early on, the Vikings pestered the Sasquatch during the first two sets.

"It was fun to see (Spokane) and it was good to see how we competed against them," he said. "We do have seven returning sophomores, but it's a different team this year. It's a different feeling, it's a different program than it was last year and to see how we held up with them at this point in the season was extremely good to see."

After dropping the opening match to Spokane, Big Bend went on to win three out of their last four matches.

On Friday, The Vikings downed Chemeketa (25-20, 25-22, 25-19) and Mt. Hood (25-20, 25-17, 25-15).

Big Bend dropped its first match Saturday against Walla Walla (25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 26-24) before rallying to finished the tournament with a four-set victory against Clark (25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 25-18).

"We improved a lot I felt like," Duncan said. "That first game against Spokane was really the only instance in which I didn't see what I was looking for. After that point I felt like we really cruised.

"To Walla Walla's credit they're a great team and you can tell from the scores we hung with them and we even took a set off of them. I thought we actually fought really well during that game and it wasn't an issue of consistency it was an issue of Walla Walla being a good team and us not being able to keep pace with them, but I expect that to change come season time when we play them."

At the conclusion of the tournament, sophomore libero Kennedy Bell was named to the all-tournament team.

Bell has been a solid player for Big Bend's back row and has given Duncan one less thing to worry about defensively.

"She's getting to be a player in the back row who if the ball goes to her I know she's going to take it," he said. "It's something that I don't even need to worry about at all and that's a great feeling as a coach.

"Once you are in the middle of the game and there's certain players and certain things you need to worry about. Kennedy is not one of those things."

Last season, Bell served as a part-time defensive specialist and finished with only 76 digs on the year.

Bell has flourished so far as a sophomore and was rewarded for her improvement.

"She worked hard," Duncan said. "She improved and she's been putting in the time that really has paid off for her and so that was a great moment for her when she found out that she was selected."

Big Bend is ranked seventh in the NWAC's preseason rankings and is the second highest ranked East region team behind Blue Mountain.