EDINBURGH — After playing seven matches in less than 24 hours on Friday and Saturday and then pushing perennial power Hauser in all three sets on Monday night, the Columbus Christian volleyball team was running on fumes Tuesday night at Edinburgh.
The Crusaders cruised in the first set before running into a little bit of trouble in the second, third and fourth sets. Still, they found the resolve in the end to escape with a 25-8, 25-21, 24-26, 26-24 victory.
“They were definitely worn out,” Columbus Christian coach Sarah Stair said. “After playing probably better than we have almost all season (Monday) night and winning the first set 25-8 tonight, I think they just kind of settled into mediocre, and that was rough.”
The Crusaders (15-3-1) have had a brutal four days. They beat Dugger Union on Friday night, then went 3-2-1 in six two-set matches Saturday in Calumet Christian’s Coach Casey Classic.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
Then Monday, Columbus Christian put up a huge fight in a 25-23, 25-23, 25-19 loss at a Hauser team that has been ranked in the top five in the state in Class A this season.
“I think we got a little bit tired, and we didn’t play our best,” sophomore setter Emily Stair said after Tuesday’s win. “We had really good competition both at the tournament and (Monday) night. I’m glad that we were able to pull it out. I think that we could have played better, but I’m glad that we were still able to win despite that.”
Emily Stair, who was named to the All-Tournament team on Saturday and led the Crusaders in kills on Monday, led them with 25 assists and four aces on Tuesday, while adding five kills, and 14 digs. She ranks No. 2 in the state and in the top 10 in the country with 77 aces for the season.
Madison Henderson led Columbus Christian with 17 kills and added one block, 16 digs and two aces. Lila Hudson notched two blocks, and Kayla Jones tallied 39 digs. Also for the Crusaders, Hannah Stair recorded 13 kills, 11 digs and three aces, and Kinidy Morgan had 19 digs.
Henderson and Jones are in the top six in the state in aces.
Carly Cowan led the Lancers (5-14) with 13 kills and three aces. Kyah Streeval recorded 15 assists, Malkia Willard had three blocks and Jessica Walsh notched 13 digs.
Also for Edinburgh, Gracie Crawhorn tallied 10 kills, two blocks and 10 digs. Alyssa Funkhouser had 10 assists, and Cowan added 12 digs.
“We made some lineup adjustments just to kind of change things up a little,” Edinburgh coach Jamie Turner said. “(Streeval is) a freshman and comes in and just kind of gives a spark when we need her to come in We’re young. Some of our older players, this is their first year playing, so some of those are actually just freshman experienced. I was happy with the way they came back.”
