Chloe Gilley
A day that didn’t start out so great for Columbus East ended on a positive note Saturday.
The Olympians dropped the first three matches in their regular season-ending volleyball invitational before pulling out a 22-25, 25-14, 15-11 win against Jeffersonville in the seventh-place match.
“It’s always good to end on a positive note,” East coach Ellyn McIntosh said. “I told the girls the last time went 1-3 in a tournament, we had a little run after that. So hopefully, we can keep that streak alive.”
The Olympians began the day with a 24-26, 26-24, 15-11 loss to Class 3A No. 6 Silver Creek. East then fell to Evansville North 26-24, 25-20 and Jasper 26-24, 25-18.
Chloe Gilley led the Olympians (10-21) with a combined 103 digs and five aces in the four matches. Jenna Guse pounded 45 kills, Krea Martin recorded 79 assists and Caroline Frost and Anika Jenkins each had one solo and five assist blocks.
Also for East, Frost tallied 33 kills, Lilah Klei added 16 kills and Guse had three assist blocks and 38 digs. Addison Emery notched 32 digs and four aces, and Martin added 28 digs and three aces.
“I think we could have done better, but we saw good things,” McIntosh said. “Of course, we wanted the first three (matches) here, and I think we should have had at least two of them, but all we can do is look to Monday and start working for next week. I think if we all can come together at the right time, then we’ll be good.”
Meanwhile, Class A No. 7 Trinity Lutheran won its first match before dropping its last three to finish in sixth place. The Cougars beat Jeffersonville 25-17, 25-21 and fell to Bloomington North 25-18, 22-25, 15-13 and Avon 25-19, 25-12 before falling to Silver Creek 25-17, 25-21 in the fifth-place match.
Laura Roeder led Trinity (16-15) with 50 digs and nine aces. Carson Bowling and Madison Keith each pounded 28 kills, and Addie Darlage recorded 59 assists.
Also for the Cougars, Ava Blomenberg tallied nine kills, and Darlage notched 29 digs and four aces. Roeder had 19 assists, Keith added 23 digs and Maddie Adams served three aces.
“We did some good things, we just didn’t consistently do good things,” Trinity coach Janet VanLiew said. “I think there’s definitely some sets we should have won. We were in them and just didn’t have what we needed to do to go over the top. There was one set against Avon that was not very close, but other than that, we were in every match. We just have to figure out how to get over the top and win.”
East received a bye in the Class 4A Franklin Sectional and will play in the semifinals at 11 a.m. Saturday, likely against the host Grizzly Cubs. Trinity also will play at 11 a.m. Saturday against Crothersville or New Washington in the semifinals of the Medora Sectional. Both sectional finals are at 6 p.m. Saturday.
“I think we’ll do fine,” VanLiew said. “We’ll work on fine-tuning some things this week and then be ready to go.”
