Tyler Ernst
Columbus East came out with much intensity and aggression Thursday night.
The Olympians jumped out to huge leads in each set and got all of its players in the game. It led to a 25-17, 25-13, 25-18 boys volleyball victory over Warren Central.
The Warriors were about 20 minutes late arriving to East. They were better off turning around, as the Olympians put on the attack.
East turned the switch on right from the opening serve. The Olympians scored nine straight points at one point in the opening set to jump out to a 21-8 lead.
They kept the momentum going in the second set to start with a 15-4 lead. East also started off fast in the third set to lead 16-7.
It was a much better result for the Olympians (11-15) following a disappointing loss to Madison Tuesday.
“It’s a great feeling as a coach whenever I can get all 13 kids dressing varsity onto the court, and we got that done tonight,” East coach Kailey Smith said. “I think they all actually contributed on offense or defense, so that going into next week is an awesome feeling.”
Smith also added that her team showed a much better attitude Thursday to help them get off to the fast start.
“We were move lively today than we were on Tuesday, even with the late start tonight,” Smith said. “The boys didn’t seem to let it affect them. The late start didn’t seem to bother them too much. We came out ready to play.”
Alex Duncan tallied 28 assists, six digs, four aces and two kills for East. Tyler Ernst finished with eight kills, five digs, a block and an ace; Ian Scholl had eight digs, five kills, four blocks and an ace and Alex Wenzler added four blocks and three kills.
Also for the Olympians, Trevor Ernst recorded eight digs and an ace. Jack Smith finished with four digs and three kills and Justin Lopez had eight kills and a block. Jonathan Ruch and Reid Coers had one dig apiece, Ethan Hall and Grayson Watters each pounded a kill and Kash Coers added one serving ace for East.
The Olympians have one final tuneup before they take on Whiteland May 15 in the Franklin Sectional. They will play a Round Robin beginning at noon Saturday in the Orange Pit against Bloomington South, Greenwood and Jennings County.
“I found that us having some time off actually hurts us more than it helps us,” Smith said. “These guys want to play. They want to be here. They want games. They want to do whatever it takes to get better, so I think having three games on Saturday is definitely going to be to our benefit on Thursday.”
