While Columbus East would have preferred to have the outright Hoosier Hills Conference volleyball title, the Olympians were happy to share it with a win on Tuesday night.
East rolled to a 25-15, 25-12, 25-12 win against Madison on senior night, clinching a share of their first HHC crown since 2015.
The Olympians and New Albany both finished 6-1 in the conference. Floyd Central, the lone HHC team to beat East, is 5-1 with a game against Madison coming up on Thursday.
“It’s awesome,” East coach Stacie Pagnard said. “It would have been nice to have it outright and not share it, but I think a lot of things came from that loss to Floyd. We learned a lot about ourself, and we’ve made huge strides since then. It’s really nice to be conference champs. It’s nice to have that representation for our school and for the girls because they worked really hard.”
The Cubs actually led 4-3 in the first set and was within 14-11 before the Olympians (14-8 overall) got a sideout. Senior Rilee Jessee then served six consecutive points, and East finished off the set on a kill by Jessee.
“Senior night, your nerves and all your emotions can come out,” Jessee said. “So our team did really good keeping it going. Our practices have been really good and really intense, and we’re all looking forward to sectional. We want a sectional championship this year. That’s one of our goals. Conference was one of our goals, and we ended up getting that, so sectional is the next one.”
The Olympians jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never looked back. They finished the set on a kill by senior Allison Mack.
East led 12-7 in the third set when it got a sideout and five straight points with Mack at the service line. The Olympians finished the match on a kill from Lexia Capes.
Jessee led East with 16 kills and 18 digs. Cadence Gilley served five aces, while Jessee added three aces.
Also for the Olympians, Mack recorded 10 kills and 14 digs. Mady Foster and Reece Whitehead each pounded four kills, Gilley had 12 digs and Kendall Schaefer added seven digs.
Along with Jessee and Mack, Foster, Schaefer and Samantha Hutcheson were honored on senior night
“That group of five, they’ve done so much for the program,” Pagnard said. “Starting the offseason, just their leadership and the culture that they’ve developed is second to none, so I’m super thankful for them and all that they’ve brought to the table.”
