With the Indiana Christian Schools Athletic Association state volleyball tournament being played at Columbus Christian next weekend, the Crusaders wanted to make sure they would be one of the teams advancing to the final four.
Columbus Christian did that with ease in Saturday’s ICSAA South Regional. The Crusaders beat Pleasant View Christian 25-14, 25-16, 25-14 in the semifinals before sweeping Evansville Christian 25-17, 25-16, 25-12 in the final.
“That was one of our goals for the year,” said Columbus Christian coach Sarah Stair, who led the Crusaders to a state runner-up finish last season. “We wanted to win state, and we still do. We’ll continue to work.”
In the final against Evansville Christian, Columbus Christian (20-3) jumped out to a 7-0 lead behind the serving of Madison Henderson and never looked back.
“I think it really helped get the team moving,” Henderson said. “Coach called all the serves, so I give credit to her for that. So I think it really helped us get moving and get ahead quickly.”
The Eagles led the first half of the second set and had a 12-11 advantage before the Crusaders got a sideout to tie it. Lauren Hunnicutt then served four consecutive aces and five straight points to give Columbus Christian the lead for good.
“We were talking about how we wanted to be aggressive and get back in the game,” Hunnicutt said. “So I was just back there focused on ‘Over and in’ and getting us going again.”
Sarah Stair wasn’t surprised.
“That’s happened several times this season where we’ll be neck and neck with a team, and one of of our servers — it’s been different servers different games — goes back and serves three or four aces, and it kind of deflates the other team, and then we can take charge from there,” she said.
In the third set, the Crusaders jumped out to an 8-2 lead and cruised from there.
Hunnicutt led Columbus Christian with a combined 23 kills, one solo and one assist block and nine aces in the two matches. Hannah Stair recorded 52 assists, and Kayla Jones tallied 13 digs.
Also for the Crusaders, Ellie Ridder notched 14 kills, four digs and four aces, and Henderson had eight kills, one block, two digs and seven aces. Hannah Stair added three digs and eight aces; AnnMarie Gandy pounded 11 kills; Emily Stair contributed three kills, five assists and three digs and Jones had three kills and three digs.
As a team, Columbus Christian served 33 aces for the day. Hannah Stair and Henderson rank 1-2 in the state in aces among both ICSAA and IHSAA schools.
“One of our biggest strengths is serving, so that’s hopefully what’s going to carry us through,” Sarah Stair said.
