Kimberly Carothers
After dropping all four of their matches in Saturday’s Providence Invitational and a home game against perennial power Providence coming up on Thursday, the Columbus East volleyball team was hungry for a win when it hosted Shelbyville on Monday.
The Olympians were able to gain that much-needed victory. They snapped a six-match losing streak with a 25-21, 25-11, 25-21 win.
“I think we struggled at first, but then we came back and played really well,” senior Kimberly Carothers said. “We were on a losing streak, which is never fun, so I think just being able to get this win really brought energy to our team and momentum for our next game on Thursday against Providence.”
East (3-11) jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the opening set behind the serving of Krea Martin and Lauren Smith. The Olympians led 20-9 before the Golden Bears came back to within 23-21, but East was able to finish off the set.
East never trailed in the second set. The third set was tied 1-1 when Martin served four consecutive aces to give the Olympians the lead for good.
“We just all stayed calm, pushed, kept our attitudes up and got the win,” Smith said. “We needed a win to hopefully boost our confidence.”
Lauren Smith
Smith was filling in at libero after fellow senior Addison Emery sustained a dislocated knee in last week’s loss to Jennings County. Smith underwent an MRI on Monday, but likely won’t know the extent of her injury until early next week.
“Of course, we’re missing her passes certainly on serve reception,” East coach Alison Eagleman said. “We had Chloe Gill try a little libero last week, but we still need her a little bit in the front row. I think Lauren is stepping in doing a great job. She’s had some great serving and serve reception here lately.”
Martin led East with 21 assists and seven aces. Carothers and Lilah Klei each pounded nine kills, Anika Jenkins had two blocks and Smith notched 17 digs.
Also for the Olympians, Klei had one block and five aces. Carothers and Martin each recorded eight digs, and Smith served five aces.
“We had some great passes tonight by Rahianna (Logan) and some great swings from Kimberly and Lilah,” Eagleman said. “We hope to keep that coming.”
East collected 20 aces as a team.
“It was really nice,” Eagleman said. “It was tough over the weekend not having a win. Hopefully, this will build a little confidence going into Providence on Thursday.”
