Battle-tested Merritt Island dominates Viera in sweep

MERRITT ISLAND — Viera and Merritt Island squared off on Oct. 6 in the penultimate match of the regular season.

The Mustangs dominated the opening set, finished strong in set two and claimed set three convincingly in a 25-7, 25-21, 25-8 sweep.

“We came out on a mission,” Merritt Island head coach Angie Patrick said. “We had really big competition this weekend and I think that translated to how we played (tonight). They had a very dominant performance.”

It was another strong offensive performance by Merritt Island as it finished the match with three attackers with at least 10 kills. Junior Ema Michell posted a double-double of 12 kills and 11 digs. Senior Bella Becker spiked 11 kills in the middle and junior Lydia Scott finished with 10 kills.

“It was really good. It was intense. Everyone was locked in. Everyone was really excited,” Becker said. “We knew after our JV and freshmen team had lost we knew that it was really important we stepped up and showed everyone what Merritt Island’s all about.”

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Becker tied a season-high in kills. It’s the fourth time she’s achieved double-digit kills in a match. After Viera tied the second set at 20-20, Becker took over with 4 kills to close out the set 25-21.

“Just my teammates being so positive all the time,” Becker said. “We have great setter connections. Just all of our energy on the court.”

Becker is among the many attackers who’ve stepped up after junior Peyton Riordan sustained an injury on Aug. 29. She ranks third on the team with 131 kills.

“Bella (Becker) continues to be great. Everyone wants to focus on our big pins, but it opens up a lot for Bella,” Patrick said. “Bella is just amazing at putting the ball where the defenders are not. Can’t praise her enough for what she does for the team. She was on fire. I just kept telling Amber (Ives) get it to Bella.”

Mustangs senior setter Amber Ives contributed all over the court with 38 assists, 6 digs and 5 aces. Ives served a team-high 28 times and committed only two errors, enabling Merritt Island to go on big runs in the first and third sets.

“(Ives) came out super aggressive and did a great job with that,” Patrick said. “Her running the offense was super impressive. She got all the hitters activated and was really dynamic.”

Merritt Island improved to 19-5 and it’ll head to Winter Park on Oct. 8. Winter Park, who sits fifth in the Open Division rankings, defeated the Mustangs 25-18, 20-25, 15-11 in the Swing for the Cure Tournament on Oct. 3.

“We’re really excited,” Becker said. “We know that this is a good win for us, but we’re ready to get back to work (tomorrow) at practice.”

It was a tough performance for Viera as it struggled to stay in system and create opportunities for themselves in the attack.

“Not good. We didn’t show up. Our passing wasn’t good, which is something we’ve relied on all year,” Viera head coach Sarah Wayne said. “Our setters couldn’t find connections with our hitters. Our middles didn’t follow our hitters. The moment got bigger than us right now.”

The Hawks ended the match with 16 kills, 2 aces and 1 block. Junior Addi Casey spiked a team-high 6 kills. Sophomore Ava Sarratt recorded 4 kills and 1 block. Senior Shaylee Wreggit ended the night with 3 kills.

After allowing a 19-3 run to finish the first set, Viera battled back from a 15-10 deficit in set two to tie it at 20-20. However, the Mustangs scored five of the next six points to finish off the set.

“My team always fights. They always run after balls. They will always play to the whistle,” Wayne said. “They never give up, which I told them I’m always proud of them for that. The will to get better is there. We just need to execute.”

This marked Viera’s second match back in Florida after competing in an out-of-state tournament for the first time ever. The Hawks traveled to Kentucky and played five matches on Sept. 25-26 going 3-2. They split two matches with Bowling Green, who’s currently ranked fourth in Kentucky.

Wayne said the trip took one year to plan.

“It was amazing. It was once in a lifetime. I’ve never taken a team out of state. We played really well when we were up in Kentucky. I think we kind of gelled,” Wayne said. “A lot of them play travel ball and a lot of them have gone to these qualifiers and stuff, but not really see that college campus experience which was kind of cool.”

It was a full-circle moment for Wayne, who played for Kentucky from 2001-04. As part of the trip, Wayne took the team to Lexington where they got to attend the Texas-Kentucky match. After the match, Viera got to meet the Wildcats team.

“A lot of emotions that weekend. It was pride for me to show the girls my school. I’ve been at Viera at 21 years. Kentucky means so much to me,” Wayne said. “I’m still in contact with my old teammates and Craig Skinner, he’s the coach and he’s been there for 20 years. The fact that it all came together and it worked out so well. It was such a joyous experience and one I’ll never forget.”

Viera enters the final match of the regular season with a 16-8 record. It’ll host Satellite on Oct. 8 in a rematch of the conference tournament semifinals won by the Scorpions in four sets on Sept. 21.

“We just got to regroup. We’ll go back to practice and we’ll get ready for our opponent,” Wayne said. “If we can fix some of those things and execution pieces, we’re going to have a good time.”

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Battle-tested Merritt Island dominates Viera in sweep