Columbus North’s Karen Dutro looks to spike the ball as Morgan Osborn (3) looks on during Thursday’s Conference Indiana match against Bloomington North at Columbus North High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
After starting the season 5-2 and then taking a set off perennial state contender Roncalli in a loss last week, the Columbus North volleyball team hit a little bit of a snag when it went 1-3 in Saturday’s Brownstown Central Invitational.
Tuesday night, the Bull Dogs bounced back in a big way. They cruised in the first set and pulled out two more close sets to open their Conference Indiana schedule with a 25-15, 25-23, 25-23 win against visiting Bloomington North.
“I think we were all really tired on Saturday,” senior libero Morgan Osborn said. “Today, with the three day weekend, we were rested. We wanted to put in the effort and the work in practice on Monday and come in here and play really well. It was fun. We all just wanted to just have fun and go out and play our hearts out, so going out there and pulling out a hard, tough win was good.”
After the mandatory day off Sunday, the Bull Dogs (7-6, 1-0) practiced Monday to prepare for the Cougars (1-5, 0-1).
“We definitely played strong teams on Saturday, but I think it was a mix of playing better tonight and having some renewed energy after a long week,” senior middle hitter Karen Dutro said. “It was a tough weekend, but tonight was good.”
“It was really great to be able to start off our conference play with a win,” Columbus North coach Sarah Stair added. “We had a really good practice (Monday) morning on Labor Day, and it was really great to be able to have the girls come here ready to go.”
The Cougars led 10-9 in the first set when the Bull Dogs got a side out to tie it and then eight consecutive points with Osborn at the service line. After a Bloomington North point, Columbus North got a sideout and three straight points from Rori Pollert’s serve and went on to close out the set.
After a back-and-forth second set that went the Bull Dogs’ way, the third set was much the same, with neither team leading by more than three points. Tied at 21-21, Columbus North got back-to-back kills from Tania Maldonado and an ace from Osborn to get to match point. The Cougars cut the lead to 24-23, but then had a hitting error to end it.
“I think it was a good fight overall,” Dutro said. “Bloomington North definitely came out with lots of power in the second and third sets, and so even though we fell behind by points in a few spots and let them go on some runs, we did a good job of continuing to stay consistent and fighting back after those runs.”
“I think that was probably one of our best games, honestly,” Osborn added. “We played pretty well. We played more as a team tonight than we have in the past.”
Osborn recorded 13 digs and five aces, Dutro had 10 kills and one block assist and Lexi Denny tallied 26 assists and one block assist to led the Bull Dogs. Elaina Penrod and Sydney Ousley also had one block assist.
Also for Columbus North, Tania Maldonado pounded eight kills, and Ada David contributed five kills. Osborn posted five assists, Hannah Perry notched eight digs and Pollert and Kyndal Wheeler each added six digs.
“I think every player struggled a little bit on and off tonight, but ultimately, they were able to pull it out,” Stair said. “I love their drive and desire to fight and continue to keep fighting, even when they’re down.”
