Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Beginning their postseason journey against Columbia City at 3A Sectional 20 on Thursday night, the Tippecanoe Valley volleyball team couldn’t have gotten a better start to the match if it tried. The Lady Vikings won the first two sets in comeback fashion, putting themselves 25 points away from a trip to Saturday’s semifinals. Instead, it was the Lady Eagles that took the match, battling back to move on with a 3-2 reverse sweep.
Columbia City got the start to the match that it wanted, putting the pressure on their opponent early by scoring the first three points of the night. Valley showed tremendous poise in response to this early blitz, scoring five of the next six points to take a lead of its own. That was just the first momentum shift of the match, and it didn’t take long to get the second, as the Lady Eagles responded with a 5-0 run themselves.
The Lady Vikings spent the majority of the opening set doing a great job of battling back after facing some adversity and going down by a handful of points, but the only problem was that the team was spending so much of its energy fighting from behind, they would run out of gas by the time they had a chance to jump in front. This allowed Columbia City to build its lead all over again, resetting the cycle and forcing Valley to dig deep once more.
This trend continued as the set started to near the end, as the home team on the scoreboard burned its first timeout after three straight Lady Viking points shrunk their lead to 18-16. The first two points following the break belonged to the visitors, tying things up. The run didn’t stop there. This time, it appeared that Valley had the juice to keep the run going. Just moments later, the Lady Eagles were calling timeout again as they now trailed 21-18.
Now it was Columbia City’s turn to play from behind, and they were not able to do what their opposition spent the entire set doing. An ace by Bella Newcomer was the final point in a 25-20 win in what was a hard-fought victory in the opener for the visitors.
Perhaps feeling like they let one get away the set prior, the Lady Eagles began the second game similarly to the first. Scoring eight of the first eleven points, the home side forced an early timeout call from the Valley sideline as the visitors looked to come up with another spark while playing from behind.
This time around, Columbia City was able to stay in front for much longer and maintain its advantage. After 25 points of play, the Lady Eagles now led 16-9, but they could only hold down the Lady Vikings for so long. Four points later, it was a three-point game and the visitors were surging all of a sudden. The home side was having a tough time dealing with the service of Valley, as the green and gold was doing a great job of forcing some uncomfortable touches. The run kept on going, and Columbia City called a timeout now leading 17-16.
It remained incredibly close as the 25-point threshold neared closer, as the two teams went into the home stretch tied at 20-20. After spending even more time playing from behind in this set than the first one, a kill by Malaynie Costello finally gave the Lady Vikings the lead at 22-21. After another point and timeout, Valley was now just two-points away from a commanding 2-0 lead. It didn’t take long to get them, as Costello came through again with the final kill of the set to finish off a 25-21 win that put the green and gold just one set away from advancing.
It seemed as if things were following a script at this point because the third set began nearly identically to the first two. This time, the Lady Eagles’ early lead was its largest yet, as the home side went up 6-1 in a flash. It got up to six multiple times afterwards, but the Lady Vikings continued to just find a way to keep on chipping away to stay in the fight.
Columbia City remained in front as it searched for just one win as it tried to get back in the match. The home front line was doing a much better job at coming up with blocks and controlling the game defensively, and eventually, it started to pay off for them. Late in the set, the home side took a five-point lead at 21-16, the largest advantage it had held this late in a game. It eventually grew to six at 23-17, forcing a Valley timeout. It didn’t do much to help, as the home side scored the final two points it needed to secure a 25-17 win to extend the match and keep its season alive.
Senior Hadley Wise of Tippecanoe Valley makes solid contact with the ball during the first set...Nieter
Looking to avoid having to play for a decisive fifth set, the Lady Vikings came out with some urgency to begin the fourth. The Lady Eagles didn’t enjoy the luxury of a hot start this time, as it was the visitors that took an early 7-4 lead, forcing a timeout just eleven points in. The roles were now reversed, and it was now Valley that was doing its best to remain in front as the set wore on.
They were able to do so until about the midway point, when Columbia City took a 13-12 lead. It lasted briefly, as the visitors were able to turn it around quickly to jump back ahead. With one team looking to put the game on ice and the other hoping to force a fifth and final set, the action got tighter and tighter as the end of the fourth set neared. The first team to reach 20 points was the home side, doing so with a 20-18 lead.
They held on to that lead even with Valley putting up its best effort. After leading for a majority of the first two sets before coming up empty, the Lady Eagles had found a way to crawl back into things with a 25-21 victory that set up a fifth set to determine a winner.
With only 15 points necessary here, every point was magnified even further. Because of this, the Lady Vikings called their first timeout of the set after falling behind 3-0. After not taking advantage of two prime opportunities to walk out with a win, things had gotten significantly tighter for the visitors, who were playing with a look of worry on their faces. On the other side, Columbia City was playing freely and shining. Their fans were getting louder and louder after each point and the home side was feeding off of the energy.
The uphill battle became even steeper from there, as the run continued to the point that it was now 7-0 Lady Eagles before the first Valley point, which was immediately followed by a service error that gave the ball right back to the team in front. The Lady Vikings made one final push, scoring seven straight down the stretch, but it wasn’t enough, as the home side finished off its impressive comeback by winning 15-13.
Tippecanoe Valley will return next season.
