In what was a frustrating regular volleyball season, Columbus North won the first set, only to drop the next three, in five of its last nine losses.
So when the Bull Dogs won the first set against East Central Tuesday night and recovered from a brief lapse in the second to pull out that set, they felt a sense of relief.
North went on to capture the third set and claim a 25-9, 25-23, 25-22 victory in the opening round of the Columbus East Sectional.
“That’s super important because that was our momentum going forward and I talked them about, ‘What normally happens to us?’ and they’re like, ‘We lose our energy. We lose our effort,’” North coach Quin Shoultz said. “We have to keep (the opponent) down, keep moving our momentum forward, and that’s exactly what we did.”
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The Bull Dogs (9-21) advance to play Martinsville in Saturday’s first semfinal at 11 a.m. The sectional final is at 7 p.m. Saturday.
North came out absolutely rolling in the first set Tuesday. The Bull Dogs never trailed in the set, jumping out to an 11-4 lead and never looking back.
“The girls were ready to play,” Shoultz said. “They came out with energy, they came out with physicality and they wanted to move on, so they knew they had to do that to get to the next round.”
The second and third sets were much tighter. North jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the second before the Trojans (18-10) recovered to take a 15-10 lead. The Bull Dogs then got a sideout and seven consecutive points with Reagan Kane at the service line to take an 18-15 lead. East Central went back ahead 21-19 and 23-21 before North got a sideout, and Sydney Cooper served the final three points.
East Central led 8-3 in the third set before the Bull Dogs got a sideout and five straight points with Grace Chapman at the service line to take a 9-9 lead. The Trojans went back ahead 21-20 before North scored five of the final six points to finish it off.
“I think our key was really just our energy and our effort,” said junior Sarah Bennett, who had kills on all three set points and led the Bull Dogs with 12 kills and four blocks. “We came out tonight, and I feel like all the girls really wanted it more than we’ve ever wanted it. Us wanting it so much that we came out and took a ‘W.’ It gives us a lot of confidence because we know we have the ability to win.”
Kane recorded 27 assists, Madi Roop notched 17 digs and Cooper served five aces for North.
Also for the Bull Dogs, Madison White pounded 10 kills and three blocks, Roop had eight kills and Logan Branstetter added seven kills. Kane tallied three blocks, six digs and two aces, Cooper posted 14 digs, Ava McKinney added eight digs and Chapman served two aces.
“I think a big key especially with a big team like East Central was our communication, our energy the entire time, and that’s something we had kind of lacked early on in the season,” Roop said. “But it’s something that we’ve become a lot better at, and just finding our shots on the court and not letting one point getting to us and just keep fighting.”
North now turns its attention to Martinsville (18-9), a team that beat the Bull Dogs in four sets on Sept. 3.
“We played them early on in the season, and we did end up losing,” Roop said. “But I think that if we come out and play like we know how, I think we have a really good chance at competing with them, and working hard this week is definitely going to lead us up to that point.”
The first round resumes Thursday with Bloomington North meeting Bedford North Lawrence at 6 p.m. Class 4A No. 11 Columbus East will play 4A No. 10 Bloomington South in the final first-round game at around 7:30 p.m. Thursday, and the winners of those two matches will play in the second semifinal at around 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
