Columbus North volleyball celebrated its senior night Thursday night, but Jennings County played spoiler.
The Class 3A No. 8 Panthers had slow starts to each set but were able to finish to close out a 25-20, 20-25, 25-12, 25-21 victory over the Bull Dogs.
“We have a very competitive group, and they’ve got a lot of heart, a lot of fight in them. That’s probably my favorite quality of this group is that they don’t give up,” Jennings coach LeAna Matern said. “Even when they’re down, they know there’s still a way to win, and they know that if they lose a set, there’s still another set they can take.”
Kennedy Horn finished with 14 kills, five blocks and two aces for North (8-12). Karen Dutro pounded 13 kills, Reese Edwards had 13 assists and two aces, and Holly Evans added 11 assists and three blocks.
Also for the Bull Dogs, Ally Wettschurack had four blocks, Elaina Penrod added seven kills and Morgan Osborn finished with 20 digs and an ace. Osborn eclipsed the 1,000 career digs mark in the match.
“We knew coming into tonight that it was going to be a challenging game, but we have been practicing and actually doing all the things tonight we were doing in practice. Utilizing all those tools and putting it on the court tonight helped,” North Jenna Ortega said. “I think with teams like this, we need those competitions and fast pace because that’s what going to build us to better succeed in our future and the goals we have later down the road.”
Seniors Edwards, Horn, Wettschurack, Evans and Lucy Wilson were Ortega’s first class she’s had for all four years since taking over as coach in 2021.
“They are so special,” Ortega said. “They were incoming freshmen when I started here, so we’ve been together the last four years. Being able to see their growth on and off the court and the people they’re becoming to be, they truly are special and a great group of girls.
Avynn Belding pounded 14 kills and three blocks for the Panthers (14-1). Aylah Belding finished with 14 kills and eight digs, Kaydence Lowman had 13 kills and two blocks and Mallory Manowitz added 14 digs and two aces.
