Andrean junior Vanessa Brown couldn’t explain how her serve became so effective.
“I started jump-serving when I was 13,” she said. “This year, it’s the strongest it’s ever been.”
The 5-foot-9 Brown, who handles outside hitter and defensive specialist roles, used that serve to ignite a Game 2 rally Tuesday night as the host 59ers swept Munster for a 25-15, 25-11, 25-14 Northwest Crossroads Conference victory.
After Andrean (13-5, 3-0) cruised through the first game, Munster (2-9, 1-1) found its offensive rhythm early in the second and held an 8-7 lead. Once Brown went back to serve for Andrean, though, the 59ers erupted for 12 straight points and coasted from there.
Brown served on every point of that rally, but responded with a quick “no” after the match when asked if she’d made that serve a focal point of her offseason training.
But just a few weeks into the season, Brown realizes she has a strong new weapon.
“They told me I was third in the state for aces and I started recognizing it, too,” she said. “I didn’t realize my serve was that powerful and effective.”
But serves are only part of the story for Brown, who rarely left the cour.
“She’s the definition of an all-around player,” Andrean coach Grant Bell said. “No one has scored more points of serves than she has, and that’s a huge reason why she’s out there. But she also gets the kills and digs when we need her.”
Brown, who delivered four aces against Munster, had plenty of support from Andrean’s senior trio of Serena Wagner, Jenna Dal Santo and Christina Dal Santo.
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Wagner contributed a team-high 24 assists, Christina Dal Santo added 20 digs and seven aces and her twin sister Jenna had 16 kills.
“It feels sometimes like they’re just on autopilot,” Bell said of his talented seniors. “But it’s taken a long time with a lot of hard work to get to this point. These girls deserve victories like this.”
Munster coach Brett Boden said his team’s best stretch came early in Game 2, but the Mustangs never recovered after that Andrean rally.
“We actually turned defense into offense there,” Boden said. “We ran a little bit of offense there, probably the only time we ran any offense in that match.”
The Mustangs have two more weekday matches awaiting before a weekend tournament, offering the team multiple opportunities to move beyond the loss.
“We looked like we were pressing too much to not lose this game,” Boden said. “I know it was a big conference match. I don’t know if they bought too much into that.”
Dave Melton is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.