A new era in Columbus Christian athletics began Saturday evening with the first contest in the new Southern Roads Conference.
The Crusaders made that first outing a winning one. They cruised in the first two sets and pulled out a close third set to knock off conference foe Dugger Union 25-14, 25-12, 25-22 to kick off the volleyball season.
“I’m not 100 percent sure what the conference will bring this year because we haven’t played all the teams,” Columbus Christian coach Sarah Stair said. “So being being able to start off our conference and our season 1-0 feels pretty great.”
The Crusaders jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the first set behind the serving of Madison Henderson. They ended the set on an ace from Hannah Stair.
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In the second set, Henderson and Stair served Columbus Christian to an 8-0 lead.
“I told the girls one of our goals for this season was that we would be the first team to score 10 in every set because I think it’s 70 percent of the time the first to 10 is going to win,” Sarah Stair said.
The Bulldogs made things competitive in a back-and-forth third set. They led 19-18 before the Crusaders regained serve, and Kayla Jones followed with back-to-back aces to give them the lead for good at 21-19.
Columbus Christian closed the set and match on a kill by Mayah Schundelmier.
“I think some of them were maybe getting tired and maybe mishandling the ball,” Sarah Stair said. “There were a few more errors, but as a whole, they played incredibly well together. They worked hard, they dove, they hustled, and I’m proud of them.”
Hannah Stair, who moved from libero to setter this season, led the Crusaders with 21 assists and five aces.
“It’s different because I’ve always played back row, but it’s kind of fun to be able to do that,” Hannah Stair said. “I think we hustled really well and worked together as a team to figure everything out.”
Mayah Schundelmier pounded 14 kills, Lauren Hunnicutt had a block and Ellie Ridder and Henderson each notched four digs for Columbus Christian. Michaela Schundelmier added three kills and three digs, Jones had three digs and four aces, Henderson contributed a kill and three aces and Hunnicutt recorded three digs.
Henderson made her return to the court after missing last season with a torn ACL.
“All of our team is really supportive, so I just felt like I was right back like the season before,” Henderson said. “It’s our first time playing together as a team, so I thought we did really well working for the Lord.”
