Class 4A No. 6 Columbus East and Columbus North are on opposite sides of the draw for next week’s Martinsville volleyball sectional and could meet in the finals.
But to get there, the Bull Dogs would have to beat defending sectional champion Martinsville and Bedford North Lawrence. The Olympians must get past Bloomington South and then either East Central or Bloomington North.
“We were looking forward to anybody in the draw,” East coach Ellyn McIntosh said. “It didn’t really matter who we play first. We have to beat them all at some point.”
The Olympians are 20-3 and wrapped up an unbeaten Hoosier Hills Conference season last week. They have a pair of games this week and then host a tournament on Saturday to finish the regular season.
“We’re playing some pretty good volleyball,” McIntosh said. “We’ve had some good practices. We’re trying to ramp up toward the end of the season heading into the sectional.”
East’s game with Bloomington South, which will be a rematch of Tuesday’s four-set Olympian victory, will be at 6 p.m. Oct. 14. The North-Martinsville game will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 14.
The Bull Dogs fell to Martinsville in three sets earlier in the season.
“During the season, that’s when our obstacles started, and we struggled playing them, but I’m confident now that we are a stronger team and will be able to compete, and we have a chance to beat them,” North coach Jenna Ortega said. “We have the potential, and we have the talent. If we get past Martinsville, we’ve already beaten BNL, and it would go back to an East-North championship game. We’ll play our best, and that’s all I can ask.”
The sectional semifinals will begin at 11 a.m. Oct. 16, with the final at 7 p.m. that evening.
Meanwhile, 11-time defending sectional champion Hauser will play in the Class A Edinburgh Sectional again this year. The Jets received a first-round bye and will play the winner of the Oct. 14 Edinburgh-Waldron winner at 11 a.m. Oct. 16.
Hauser has split a pair of matches with Waldron this season. The Jets play Edinburgh on Tuesday with a chance to finish unbeaten in the Mid-Hoosier Conference.
“We just have to make sure we finish up the season and then have a good week of practice heading into the sectional,” Hauser coach Jeff Case said. “I think the girls ought to be motivated since (Waldron) beat us in our tournament. They have a really good team, and we have to come out and take care of business. You can really tell, everybody gets pumped up to play us.”
Also in Class A, No. 1 Trinity Lutheran will play Crothersville in the opening round of the Trinity Sectional on Oct. 14. The winner will play Jac-Cen-Del or Oldenburg Academy in the semifinals.
Jennings County received a bye in the 4A Providence Sectional and will play in the semifinals Oct. 16 against the Jeffersonville-Floyd Central winner.
In 3A, Brown County will play Northview Oct. 14 in the opening round of the Owen Valley Sectional. The winner will meet the host Patriots in the semifinals.
South Decatur drew a bye in the 2A South Ripley Sectional and will play Oct. 16 in the semifinals against the North Decatur-Milan winner.
