Tommy Walker | For The Republic
After dropping three games in four days to begin the week, Columbus East wasn’t in the mood to surrender a fourth Friday night.
Columbus North took the first two sets and was on its way to a sweep when the Olympians came to life. East rallied to win that third set, then cruised in the fourth and fifth for a 21-25, 24-26, 25-19, 25-15, 15-9 victory in the teams’ first meeting since boys volleyball game an IHSAA-sanctioned sport.
“It feels great to finally know that our work is paying off,” East senior Ian Scholl said. “This week has been a rough week. We lost three tough games, so finally seeing that work pay off is just great.”
The Bull Dogs (6-16) led 17-14 in the third set before the Olympians (10-13) closed the set with an 11-2 run behind the serving of Reid Koers and Scholl.
“I think we became more aggressive,” Scholl said. “That was a big thing. In the first two sets, we were not being aggressive, and we were letting them dictate the tempo. I think the third set, we really switched that around and started to dictate the pace of the game.”
East built an early 9-3 lead in the fourth set behind the serving of Tyler Ernst and Jack Smith. North led 7-6 in a back-and-forth fifth set until the Olympians got a sideout and six straight points with Smith at the service line.
“We’ve been working all season on making those in-game adjustments, and these last three games, including tonight, the boys have actually started to listen,” East coach Kailey Smith said. “We’re learning how to read those blocks, we’re learning to hit different shots in a game. Our defense is getting quicker, and our back row is getting way better than what they were earlier in the season.”
Scholl led East with eight kills, 19 digs and four aces. Alex Duncan recorded 29 assists, and Alex Wenzler had five blocks.
Also for the Olympians, Wenzler pounded seven kills, and Duncan tallied six kills, four blocks and 10 digs. Tyler Ernst notched six digs and one ace, Justin Lopez had three blocks, Trevor Ernst added 19 digs and Coers served two aces.
“I think it’s just playing defensively vs. offensively,” Duncan said. “After those first two sets, we started swinging. We started being more aggressive, and that’s what helped turn the game around.”
Leo Iorio recorded 16 kills and one ace, and Kota Kondo had 32 assists and one ace to lead North. Juan Jose Salcedo Calderon tallied six blocks, and Yoki Murabayashi served one ace.
Also for the Bull Dogs, Yuta Kondo pounded 13 kills, and Salcdeo Calderon added eight kills. Iorio and Noah Dornfeld each had three blocks, and Kota Kondo and Murabayashi each notched 15 digs.
“I think we got a little tight and were playing not to lose instead of to win,” North coach Jeff Case said. “We started making some silly mistakes and not communicating. We knew their setter (Duncan) was very aggressive and could put the balls down. I thought we did a good job, but we let him get away a little bit, and our ball-control went away. We weren’t running a very good offense, and it made it easy for them to run theirs when we don’t run ours.”
East had lost to Greenwood in three sets Monday and New Albany in three sets Wednesday. After getting home from New Albany around 11 p.m. Wednesday night, the Olympians turned around and headed back to southern Indiana, where they lost in five sets to Silver Creek Thursday and got home around 11:30 p.m.
“Tuesday, we worked really hard on serving under pressure and making more than one serve in a row, and I think tonight, that really paid off,” Kailey Smith said. “All season, we’ve kind of panicked whenever we’re down and allowed that scoreboard to dictate who we are as a team, and I think tonight, we overcame that.”
“In the locker room this week, I’ve been preaching resiliency, keeping a strong mental fortitude during these games,” Tyler Ernst said. “When you get down, you just have to continue to fight back and make that next play, no matter what happens. As a senior, your main goal is to beat your rival and we were just able to fight this whole season and make it count against a really good team.”
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