On paper, Thursday’s Hoosier Hills Conference volleyball match between Columbus East and New Albany looked to be close to even.
It lived up to the billing.
A seesaw battle ensued that pushed the Olympians to the limit, but they were able to overcome everything that was thrown at them to come out on top 25-20, 18-25, 25-21, 25-19 to remain perfect in conference play.
“It’s definitely a big win for us,” East senior Rilee Jessee said. “We knew that we had to play our game to win this match. (New Albany) is a great team, a high-intensity team and I’m glad that we could beat them in four.”
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It the first set, the Olympians (8-4, 5-0) jumped out to a 6-2 lead until the Bulldogs came back to tie it at 10-10. East then scored three straight points to lead 13-10 and extended the lead to 22-16 and eventually closed out the set.
New Albany turned up the intensity to start the second set to jump out in front 9-3. The serving of Jessee cut the deficit to 9-7. From that point forward, nothing was going the Olympians way on the attack, and the Bulldogs took advantage to eventually tie the match at a set apiece.
New Albany led 5-3 early in the third set, but then East rallied to win five of the next six points to lead 8-6. A miscommunication by the Olympians turned the tide back in the Bulldogs’ favor to tie it at 9-9. Later in the set with East leading 13-10, New Albany came back to tie it at 16-16 to force an Olympians timeout. After the Bulldogs scored two more points, another timeout was called by East.
The serving of Allison Mack helped the Olympians rally for five straight points to lead 21-18. New Albany came back to tie it at 21-21, but East wasn’t going to be denied by scoring the final four points of the set.
East coach Stacie Pagnard said she made a lineup change, and it worked.
“We had some matchups we didn’t love, and Allison came in there and gave us a huge spark defensively and with her serving,” Pagnard said. “She’s a kid that is very, very unselfish and is someone that is willing to play any position we put her in. She was a game-changer for us tonight.”
The Olympians carried that momentum over into the fourth set, and coupled with a few Bulldog errors, jumped out to a 7-2 lead that forced a New Albany timeout. But East didn’t skip a beat and closed out the match.
“It’s a great practice for us leading up to sectional,” Pagnard said. “They were able to play under the pressure in a difficult environment because they play with such high energy and are a senior-driven team in a lot of position. For us to be able to stay poised, play and stay fundamentally sound when it counted. That’s what I’m most proud of.”
Jessee recorded 18 kills and 18 digs, and Mack had nine kills, 17 digs and two aces to lead the Olympians. Reece Whitehead added 12 kills and 12 digs, Kenzie Foster had 24 digs and three aces, Mady Foster tallied 10 digs and Cadence Gilley served two aces.
