BLOOMINGTON — It’s been three years since Columbus East has last won a volleyball sectional.
The trophy is coming back home.
The Olympians survived an early scare against host Bloomington North in the semifinal round, but made sure that mistake didn’t happen again when they defeated Bloomington South 25-23, 25-21, 13-25, 25-18 in the sectional title game on Saturday night.
“It feels great (winning the sectional), and we played really well as a team,” East senior Allison Mack said. “Overall, it was a really good team win.”
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The Olympians (20-9) had to rally earlier in the day, coming back from two sets down to prevail over the Cougars 24-26, 21-25, 25-11, 25-16, 15-10.
“As nice as you think the bye is, it’s hard when your season is on the line. We have some seniors that have put their heart and soul into this program and helping us set the culture that we want,” East coach Stacie Pagnard said. “We were playing not to lose instead of playing to win. It took us a while to get out of that funk, and I think it’s what you saw in Games 3 and 4. It was a battle in Game 5. They had seniors that were hungry. It was a great win for us, and moreso, set the tone for this evening. We were battled tested and ready to go.”
With Bloomington South leading 5-4 in the opening set, the Olympians went on a 4-0 run to lead 8-5. The Panthers responded back with five points of their own to retake the lead 10-8.
Later on in the first set with Bloomington South leading 12-10, East went on a 5-1 run to take the lead back at 15-13. When the Olympians looked to take command leading 19-16, the Panthers came back to tie it at 20-20. The back-and-forth battle ensued until a serving error by Bloomington South rewarded East with the set.
The Olympians started out on fire in the second set leading 8-3, but a couple points by the Panthers made it 8-5 until Mack recorded a kill and an ace to make it 10-5 to force a Bloomington South timeout. Following the timeout, the Panthers found themselves back in the set, going on a 8-3 run to tie the game at 13-13. It became another close battle with both teams trading points, and it was tied at 20-20. East pushed through to finish the set on a 5-1 run capped off by a Cadence Gilley ace.
The Olympians jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third set, but then Bloomington South fought back with five straight points to force an East timeout. The Olympians got it back to within 9-8, but four straight points by the Panthers forced another timeout by East. That didn’t slow down Bloomington South, which went on a 8-1 run to lead 22-12 and eventually close out the set.
The Olympians led 4-0 in the fourth set, but the Panthers came back to take a 5-4 lead. With the score 6-6, East went on a 7-3 run to force a Bloomington South timeout. Following the timeout, the Olympians eventually finished the Panthers off and claim the championship.
“Bloomington South and Bloomington North are really great teams, and we came out and knew what we had to do,” East senior Rilee Jessee said. “I’m just so proud of us, and I’m super-excited that we got this one.”
Against the Panthers, Reece Whitehead finished with 10 kills, 13 digs and three aces; Rilee Jessee had 15 kills, 17 digs, three aces and two blocks; Mack added 13 digs, six kills and two blocks and Gilley recorded 15 digs and three aces. Kenzie Foster and Mady Foster notched 12 and nine digs, respectively.
Against Bloomington North, Whitehead finished with 27 digs, 17 kills and an ace. Rilee Jessee tallied 25 digs and nine kills, Regann Jessee had 11 kills and three aces, Kenzie Foster added 15 digs and two aces, Mack had 13 kills and 10 digs and Gilley contributed 23 digs and an ace.
