Columbus North volleyball got see a sneak peek at its first sectional opponent in Bloomington South during Tuesday’s Conference Indiana matchup.
The Bull Dogs hope the second time around is a much better outcome as the Panthers handed them a 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 loss. The win gives Bloomington South the outright Conference Indiana title with a 5-0 record.
“Tonight, I think we did a great job of focusing on really serving tough and taking Bloomington South out of their offense,” North coach Caitie Greiner said. “Looking forward to sectional, continuing to focus on that, but then also working on what we have been all season — mental toughness, keeping the momentum on our side of the net and playing more consistent from set to set.”
The Bull Dogs (7-14, 1-2) led 6-5 early in the first set, but a big miscommunication occurred for North that made a big impact on the rest of the set. From there, the Panthers (16-9, 5-0) rallied for seven straight points until a Madison White kill stopped the bleeding, but Bloomington South was well ahead at 13-7. The Bull Dogs did rally to score seven of the next nine points to cut it to 15-14. North eventually tied it at 17-17 before the Panthers finished the set on an 8-4 run.
North got off to a fast start in the second set leading 6-3, but Bloomington South rallied to tie the set at 8-8. Later in the set, with the Bull Dogs leading 12-10, the Panthers came back with seven straight points to make it 17-12. Bloomington South was at set point, but North did not give up, converting four consecutive points before a serving error gave the Panthers the set.
The third set started out similar to the previous set with the Bull Dogs leading 12-7, forcing a timeout by Bloomington South. The Panthers then rallied to eventually tie it at 16-16. It was all Bloomington South the rest of way, finishing the set on a 9-3 run to seal the match.
For North, Madi Roop finished with six kills, five digs and a block. Reagan Kane had 22 assists, eight digs, two aces and a block. Gabby Genth had four kills and a block. Sydney Cooper added 22 digs. Emma Tynan had 10 kills, and White added six.
The Bull Dogs will seek revenge when the teams will face off at 6 p.m. Oct. 17 in the Bloomington North Sectional.
“It’s good in a sense that we get to see them at the end of the season, so we get to see them playing at their peak,” Greiner said. “It’s good for us to use that to strategize going into sectional.”
