By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – According to genius inventor Thomas Edison, credited for the electric light bulb and phonograph, success is “10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.” Columbus East, locked in a toss-up battle for second place in the Hoosier Hills Conference, flicked the switch for both light-up factors.
Add a little emotion and positive body language. The Olympians overcame an error-plagued clash with Bedford North Lawrence with those controllable intangibles and recorded a four-set triumph on Tuesday night.
East (8-9 overall, 3-1 in the league) hammered out a 25-22, 25-18, 20-25, 25-18 win over the Stars (7-11, 2-2) and took sole possession of the spot behind Floyd Central in the conference standings.
Crispness was absent. Between illegal substitution infractions, rotation issues, miscommunication, a rare red card for misconduct (which cost a point and serve), and more official conferences (that required multiple verses for the familiar theme of the Final Jeopardy music to endure) to sort out messes at the net than a Pentagon committee meeting, the flow was ragged and the execution sporadic. The Olympians had to improvise.
“We had a ton of missed serves, but they did as well,” East coach Alison Eagleman said. “We just kept going. Don’t let anything hit the ground, keep going until the whistle blows. We’ve been working on trust with each other, communication and believing in each other. It has brought up our level of play.“
East took the first set, breaking away from a 22-22 deadlock with the final three points, including Addy Dean’s kill off a long pass and Ava Tartt’s service ace. The Olympians continued that surge to a 10-4 advantage in the second and never allowed the Stars to close the gap in a significant way.
BNL’s best moments came late in the third. Locked at 18-18, the Stars surged as Lily Mishler cranked down three kills to close out the set. But when East exploded to an 8-0 lead in the fourth, the Stars could not recover.
“We didn’t execute, didn’t come out with the energy we need,” BNL coach Aaron Wagoner said. “We told them it would be a tough game, and I think we went into it thinking we would roll. Maybe overconfident is the right word. And we were gifting each other (with the hitting and passing errors). There was a lot of charity.”
Dean paced East with 19 kills, Jillian Chapple totaled 19 assists, and Emma Armstrong totaled five blocks at the net.
Mishler had 15 kills and four aces, Emry Crane added nine kills and two blocks, Izzy Root finished with six kills, and Adalynn Bailey had 32 assists with 10 digs for the Stars.
”It’s not the end of season,” Wagoner said. “It’s a loss we didn’t want to have, but we just have to get back in the gym and go to work. It’s up to them for the effort they want to bring. We can’t will them into it.”
BNL will go on the road to face Shoals on Thursday.
