After playing six matches in Saturday’s Calumet Invitational and getting home at 12:30 a.m. Sunday, the Columbus Christian volleyball team started showing a little weariness in the third set Monday night.
But the Crusaders, who had cruised in the first two sets against Suburban Christian, regained their rhythm in the fourth set to finish off a 25-9, 25-15, 19-25, 25-22 victory.
“We said a prayer in the huddle before the fourth set, just asking the Lord to give us confidence and focus, and that was kind of our word — confidence — to be able to go out there because I felt like in the third set, they let down a little bit, and sometimes that gets in their heads, and they start to lose confidence,” Columbus Christian coach Sarah Stair said.
The Crusaders (19-2-1) rolled in the opening set. Madison Henderson served them to a 6-0 lead, and Columbus Christian didn’t look back.
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“That was the best I’ve ever seen us play,” Henderson said. “I was really proud of everybody.”
The Crusaders led 2-1 in the second set when they earned a sideout. Hannah Stair then served seven consecutive points to give them a 10-1 lead.
Once again, Columbus Christian never trailed in the set.
“They played better in the first set than they have all year, and that was exciting,” Sarah Stair said. “I think by Set 3, it seemed like there was maybe a little bit of a lack of focus. So that was the big thing that we talked about — having confidence and focus as we moved forward.”
In the third set, Suburban Christian never trailed. The Crusaders fell behind 17-6 before earning a sideout and getting six straight service points from Henderson to cut the lead to 17-13. Columbus Christian came within 19-16 and 20-17, but Suburban Christian held on to avoid the sweep.
The Crusaders jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the fourth set, but Suburban Christian came back to tie it at 18-18 and 20-20. Columbus Christian scored three in a row to take a 23-20 lead and led 24-21 when an errant Suburban Christian serve gave the Crusaders the match.
“I think that after Saturday, we definitely learned a valuable lesson that if we’re not playing for God, then there’s no reason to play at all,” Mayah Schundelmier said. “So after that, we definitely looked to Him more as a team and as individually, and as we went out tonight, we remembered who we were playing for. As we went into the third set, I think that we may have gotten a little tired, so we started to stray away. But we still knew who we were playing for. We got some energy back, and we went out and won.”
Mayah Schundelmier pounded 17 kills, and Hannah Stair recorded 28 assists, 11 digs and five aces to lead Columbus Christian. Lauren Hunnicutt had two block assists, and Henderson served five aces.
Also for the Crusaders, Henderson and Michaela Schundelmier notched 10 digs, and Hunnicutt added eight kills and nine digs. Henderson pounded four kills, Stair and Ellie Ridder each had a block assist and Kayla Jones tallied eight digs and three aces.
“I think we’re all pretty sore because (Saturday) was a super long day,” Henderson said. “It was pretty rough, but we did really well.”
