Jalana Belding, left, and Carrie Manowitz, right, are pitctured with their daughters Avynn Belding and Mallory Manowitz after Avynn and Mallory reached career milestones in a win at Madison.
Submitted photo
The last time Jennings County won a sectional and regional volleyball titles, Jalana (Daeger) Belding and Carrie (Kent) Manowitz were juniors helping lead the Panthers to the Elite Eight in 1991.
Thirty-three years later, their daughters make up about half of the regular rotation for Jennings, which broke long sectional and regional title droughts the past two weekends.
“You always want your kids to experience something like that,” Carrie Manowitz said. “I had a great experience with both volleyball and basketball. I think it’s even extra special when you watch your child do it because you’ve seen that work from when they were little, and the smile on their face is just priceless.”
Manowitz’ daughter Mallory is a senior co-captain and the starting libero for the Panthers (24-4), who will face Class 3A No. 1 Roncalli in the semistate semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday at Columbus East. Silver Creek and Tri-West will meet in the second semifinal, and the semistate final is at 7 p.m.
Jalana Belding, meanwhile, is in her second stint as an assistant coach at Jennings and has three daughters starting for the Panthers. Senior Avynn Belding, junior Abrey Belding and sophomore Aylah Belding all have played key roles.
“It’s definitely surreal to look out on the floor to see three of the six,” Jalana said. “It’s the last year they’ll all be able to play together. It’s just really neat.”
Jalana Belding, left, is pictured with her daughters Aylah, Avynn and Abrey Belding after Jennings County won the Lawrenceburg Sectional title.
Submitted photo
The 5-foot-11 Avynn is a co-captain and middle hitter who just plays in the front row. The 5-7 Abrey and 5-11 Aylah play outside hitter and in the back row, as well.
“It’s kind of neat because my oldest two have red hair, and then Aylah looks nothing like them,” Jalana said. “My oldest is definitely the most outgoing and fiery. She’s definitely a true redhead. Abrey is probably the most quiet, and then Aylah is probably the most competitive. She’s always tried to keep up with the other two.”
Jalana and Carrie were juniors on the 1991 team, which was the fifth in a row to win the regional in the one-class era. They advanced to the semistate final that year before falling to Martinsville in three sets. They lost to Columbus East in the sectional their senior year in 1992.
“It was just so intense, and the crowds were great,” Jalana said. “We had so many fans there. That was one of the best things, just the support that the community gave us. I’m just glad that our girls are getting to experience that.”
After graduation, Jalana went on to play volleyball at Georgetown (Kentucky), while Carrie went to Miami (Ohio) to play basketball. Jalana married Brian Belding, a former football, basketball and track athlete at Jennings. Carrie married Pete Manowitz, a former football standout at East. Their older son Keegan led Jennings to sectional and regional basketball titles in 2023 and now plays basketball at Wabash.
Jalana coached volleyball for about 10 years before having kids. She returned to her role as assistant coach in 2018 and also is a probation officer and athletics director at St. Mary’s school in North Vernon. She and Brian have two younger boys, ages 14 and 12.
Carrie Manowitz was the Panthers girls basketball coach for several years. Although Mallory didn’t play much basketball, she and junior setter Addison Martin and junior middle hitter Kadence Lowman took gymnastics together in Madison when they were in elementary school.
The Panthers will face a tough task in Roncalli. One of the Royals players, sophomore middle hitter Ella Stone, is the daughter of Rebecca Megel, who played for Jennings a few years after Jalana and Carrie.
“It’s been a great season,” Jalana said. “We’d like to get that semistate on Saturday. It will be a tough one, but I think we can do it. It’s definitely a mindset. I’m so glad they get to experience all that because postseason is the best part of the season.”
