Broncos remain unbeaten, sweep Reardan

RITZVILLE — The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos remain unbeaten after Tuesday’s sweep of Reardan, using a strong start to the match to improve to 11-0 on the season.

“It’s always important to start off smooth,” LRS head coach Cari Galbreath said. “Get us rolling and get our game going.”

The two sides were tied at two after the first four rallies, with the Broncos taking a 3-2 lead on the next point. LRS proceeded to go on a 12-3 run, taking a 15-5 lead after a block by sophomore Saige Galbreath. The Bronco lead was later extended on an ace by junior Madisyn Cameron, later winning the set 25-14 on a kill by sophomore Zoe Galbreath.

A handful of mistakes allowed Rearden to score points late in the set, but the Broncos quickly cut out those mishaps early in Tuesday’s second set.

“That’s one strong suit of this team — we don’t get too stuck in a mental bind,” Cari Galbreath said. “I think they’re really good at helping each other recognize, like, ‘Hey, move forward. Just move forward.’”

LRS quickly jumped out to another 15-5 lead through the first 20 points, taking a 16-5 lead on an ace by senior Megan Melcher, who had three aces down the stretch of the second set. The Broncos took a 2-0 lead in the match after a missed serve by the Screaming Eagles, winning the second set 25-17.

“By trusting in myself, I can serve so much better when I know my abilities,” Melcher said of her serving in the second set. “If I have a negative thought in my mind then I tend to fail, but I try to be positive.”

Melcher said the mistakes toward the end of the first set were able to be wiped away by the team’s on-court communication with one another.

“Communication is the most important thing in games; you can tell when our communication is a little low, we tend to not play our best. But when we do communicate, it’s really good,” Melcher said.

The Broncos once again came out firing in the third set, doubling up the Screaming Eagles 14-7 before riding off to a 25-13 win in the final set.

According to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, the LRS Broncos are one of five teams still without a loss in Class 2B volleyball this season, joining Adna (9-0), Manson (13-0), River View (12-0) and Goldendale (11-0). Despite the team’s successes so far, Galbreath said the team’s mark doesn’t come up much.

“We don’t really talk about our record,” Galbreath said with a laugh. “We really just talk about what we need to do. I try not to focus so much on the record.”

The Broncos stand atop the Northeast 2B League with two games remaining in the regular season; a home game against Liberty (Spangle) on Thursday and a road game against Davenport on Tuesday. Just behind LRS in the standings is Davenport at 7-1, according to the WIAA.

“We just don’t get too far ahead of ourselves, and we just keep preparing for each night,” Galbreath said. “We try to do what we can do, and hopefully it ends in our benefit. Just try to take care of each night.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box score

Reardan: 14-17-13 1

LRS: 25-25-25 3