GREENSBURG — South Decatur had momentum on its side after capturing the second set against Columbus Christian Saturday afternoon.
The Crusaders regrouped, however, and led from start to finish in the third set, then held off the Cougars in a tight fourth set to remain unbeaten with a 25-17, 21-25, 25-15, 25-19 victory.
“I think it was communication,” Columbus Christian junior Madison Henderson said. “We were all talking with each other and encouraging each other. We were able to perform better after that (second set).”
The Cruasders (4-0) jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first set behind the serving of Hannah Stair. They maintained at least a four-point lead the rest of the set, which ended on a kill by Ann Marie Gandy.
Columbus Christian led 8-5 in the second set before South Decatur (0-6) gained a sideout, and then Savannah Bushhorn served six consecutive points to give the Cougars a 12-8 lead. The Crusaders battled back to take a 15-13 advantage, but the Cougars got a sideout and eight more points with Brook Somers at the service line to take a 22-15 lead. South Decatur finished the set on an ace from Ali Jameson.
The Cougars were within 11-7 in the third set when Jameson went down with an ankle injury. After that, Columbus Christian began to pull away.
“When you see a teammate go down, I think that kind of takes the wind out of your sails a little bit, and it takes time to get back in it,” South Decatur coach Carrie Somers said. “The fourth set, we made a couple little lineup changes, and I thought the girls did a good job of trying to push back and almost had that set.”
The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth set. The set was tied five times, the last coming at 15-15 before the Crusaders took control. They finished off the match on a kill by Ellie Ridder.
“We’re very pleased with how we played as a whole,” Columbus Christian coach Sarah Stair said. “We still have several things that we are working on in practice. We didn’t have as many serving errors as we have a couple games, and that’s one of the keys. I loved their hard work and tenacity.”
Hannah Stair led the Crusaders with 34 assists and five aces. Henderson pounded 12 kills, Lauren Hunnicutt had three solo and one assist block, and Kayla Jones tallied 19 digs.
Also for Columbus Christian, Ridder notched nine kills and four digs. Hunnicutt added eight kills and three aces, Gandy pounded six kills, Henderson and Emily Stair each had 10 digs and Jones served three aces.
Brook Somers led South Decatur with a block, 14 digs and three aces. Lana Bell pounded eight kills, and Whitnye Burton recorded 12 assists. Brook Somers added five kills, Kalie Fry had 13 digs and Jameson and Lily Rigby each served two aces.
“We need to figure out how to be more consistent and put those sets like that second set together,” Carrie Somers said. “We know how to do it. We just have to be more consistent and stay focused and keep our energy up.”
