Columbus North came into Tuesday night’s volleyball match against Bloomington North looking to pick up its first home and first Conference Indiana win of the young season.
Although the visiting Cougars did their best not to oblige, the Bull Dogs managed to pull through with a 25-14, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19 victory.
“I thought we served really tough all night. I think that Emma (Tynan), Madi (Roop) and Sarah (Bennett) gave us a big lift with their hitting. After we started feeding the middle later in the match, that opened up the wings for us, and Emma did a great job,” Columbus North coach Caitie Greiner said.
The Bull Dogs (2-3, 1-0) played their best during the bookend games of the match. In the fourth set, Columbus North led the Cougars wire to wire, charging out to a 7-2 lead, and never looking back. After Reagan Kane served five straight points, the home team had its largest lead at 20-12. Although the Cougars fought back to try to make it interesting, they did not have enough in the tank and got no closer than four points the rest of the way.
Columbus North also jumped out of the gate early in the first set, charging to an 8-3 lead. The Cougars (5-4, 1-1) would go on a 7-2 to cut the lead to 10-9, but that is as close as they would get. Reagan Kane served six straight points, and with the help of her teammates, jumped the Bull Dog lead to as many as eight points. Following a quick two-point spurt by Bloomington North, the Bull Dogs finished the set when Sydney Cooper served Columbus North out to game point before the they put the first set away.
“I think we got a little bit comfortable in the middle of the match,” Greiner said. “We had a lapse in focus, and that showed in our service reception in the middle two games.”
The second set was a much closer affair. The Cougars seemed to wake up after the first set drubbing, coming out serving much tougher and scrambling much better. Although Columbus North led briefly at 2-1, Bloomington North was able to answer to take a 4-3 lead. Although the set was tied on six different occasions, and the Bull Dogs charged back from a six-point deficit to pull within 24-23, the Cougars got the final point.
In the third set, it appeared that the Cougars would hold Columbus North off again for the victory. Bloomington North took its first lead at 7-6, and even though the Bull Dogs were able to pull within a point on nine different occasions, they could not seem to get over the hump. However, Carley Finke got hot from the service line, and Tynan from the net, and Columbus North was able to tie the set at 21 before pulling away for the victory, taking a two-sets-to-one lead.
Tynan hammered a team-leading 19 kills. Kane also helped the Bull Dog cause immensely with 31 assists and six aces. Jalynn Reardon led the defense with 25 digs.
“I think everybody played their part tonight. We had to make some changes due to Lauren Opalka’s knee injury, but we handled those well,” Greiner said.
