Blazing Trojans blow past Rich Central

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:26PM

When longtime Bloom coach Bob Eskew moved on to take the coaching reins at Chicago State University, he left behind a cupboard that was young, but far from empty.

The Blazing Trojans had some painful learning experiences early, but now are one of the hottest teams in the south suburbs. Thursday's 25-15, 25-20 victory over host Rich Central was Bloom's ninth in a row.

"I only wish we could reverse our schedule," a smiling Bloom coach Jason Norberg said. "We were very young coming in and we played some really tough teams at the beginning.

"I'd like to see what we could do now against Lincoln-Way West and Lincoln-Way and some of the teams we saw at Champaign Centennial."

Junior Amber Fryer (six kills) and sophomore Bria Gaines (six kills, two blocks) were among the leaders Thursday. Senior Jasmine Banks added six kills, senior Rachel Giffey 10 digs and senior Rhaea Palombi 22 assists as Bloom improved to 15-7 overall. In the SAC, the Blazing Trojans are 7-0.

Rich Central (11-8, 3-4) is the only conference foe to have taken Bloom to three games (Sept. 16). Thursday the Olympians led just once, at 1-0 in Game 1.

Banks then earned the serve for Bloom with a booming kill, after which Palombi went to the line and ripped off 11 straight service points. Two of the points came on aces, while Fryer had a pair of kills. But the main force behind the long run was Palombi's effectiveness at putting the ball in play in such a way that Rich Central couldn't pass well enough to set up a return shot.

"Really, you've got to look for their weakest player and once you find them keep giving it to them," Palombi said. "Then you switch it up, go right back to them and keep it up so that they never know who you're going to give it to."

Rich Central, behind Sitoria Townsend (four kills, three blocks), Nakeyta Clair (10 digs, three blocks), Daivonya High (eight assists) and Jasmine Thames (three kills), got as close as six points in Game 1, and stayed with the Blazing Trojans for much of Game 2.

One rally in Game 2 saw the Olympians cut a 17-10 deficit to 17-14 behind some effective play at the net by Townsend and an ace by server Raven Southall.

It was 23-17 late when Rhondalynn Coleman stepped up for Rich Central with a back-to-back kill and block. An unforced error by Bloom made it 23-20 before the Blazing Trojans closed it out.

Norberg, meanwhile, has had a smooth transition - and the support of his players.

"He's bringing it up for us. He's a good coach," Fryer said. "During the summer he told us to step it up, and we really brought it up. We improved so much, I'm really proud of everybody."

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.