Oops. Forget to post about state.

Which goes a long way toward telling you how unsuspenseful it was. Quite a contrast from last year. No nail-biter with Faith Christian. No packed gym of crazed fans. Too bad, but the girls aren't giving the trophy back. A little bump with Goshen in the semifinals was followed by (as I predicted) the easiest game the girls had on their way to the title.

Game one was against the Goshen Blue Blazers. Many of you will remember them from last year, when we beat them three times - once in our tournament, once in the state semifinals, and once in the regular season. But I'm sure most of you remember their incredible eighth-grader, Azariah Stahl. She was one of fifty in the country, and the only one from Indiana, invited by USA Volleyball for U15 players last year. Five foot eleven with an incredible vertical leap, she showed great potential even while she played at a very high level already. Well, she's gone. Elkhart Central got her along with her mother as their coach, so we didn't have to face her. But the team she left is pretty good. Maybe the others were deferring to her or just got better - whatever the case, they were a worthy semifinalist.

In set one, Goshen showed they weren't going to go quietly. They were ahead 4-2 when CCS went on a seven-point run. But just when the parents (and siblings and friends of siblings - more on that later) were thinking that the match was over, Goshen tied it up and then went ahead 11-9, mostly on dinks. From there the set remained close until a kill by Ally was followed by a smash by Rachel on an overpass. A dink kill by Holly was next, and the Patriots led 20-16. Calumet added a couple of points to the lead to win set one, 25-19.

Set two started similarly - even early, followed by a Calumet scoring streak. This time, though, it was a longer streak, and Goshen never recovered. It really wasn't a Calumet scoring streak, it was a Faith ace frenzy. She really was locked in with her jump serve, and Goshen couldn't do anything with it. Eight straight aces before she put on into the net. It almost made you feel sorry for Goshen. The nine-point lead that the ace fest gave CCS was maintained to 20-11, then the Patriots extended it to thirteen by the time the game was over.

After watching the girls goof around on the court before set three, Jeff Schaap leaned over to me and sarcastically asked if I thought the girls were loose enough. I responded by saying they were too loose. That proved prophetic.  The set started close as the first two did, but this time it stayed close. Calumet did go up 14-9 after an ace by Holly, but Goshen got the next two, and the lead was three or four points when a Goshen hitting error made it 19-14. Goshen then scored seven in a row, three on errors by CCS. Taylor then put one down, but Goshen scored the next two. Calumet got three to tie it at 23, but Goshen put two down to win it, 25-23.

The girls then got serious. After the typical close start (4-4), Calumet outscored Goshen 9-2 to make it 13-6. Goshen got back to within five, but Calumet put together four straight on a kill by Faith, who then moved into the serving position and got an ace, which was followed by Emily and Ally putting balls down. After a Goshen kill, Calumet outscored the Blue Blazers 6-1 to finish out the set four and game victory, 25-12.

Lighthouse Christian Academy was the opponent for the finals. Southern Indiana volleyball (at least in this group) is not as strong as the north, and this game displayed that. I won't go into a lot of detail. LCA had one really good middle and another pretty good one, but they are quite young, and that was evident. CCS had leads in set one of 7-2, 13-5, and 19-8. Lighthouse scored on a Calumet serving error but that was the last point they got in the set. Four straight LCA errors ended the 25-9 set one win for Calumet.

Set two saw the Patriots fall behind 6-3. CCS caught them at 7, however, and after falling behind again 10-8, Calumet outscored LCA 17-3 to win set two 25-13. Faith again was dialed in on her jump serve, getting five consecutive aces. Taylor put the finishing touch on the set win with a nice kill. In the third set, the teams were even at 7 when it was ace, ace, ace, ace, ace by Faith again. CCS ended an 11-1 run with an ace by Emily to make it 17-8. Goshen picked things up a little here, but on a nice set by Rachel to Ally who showed her appreciation by crushing it, the set, match and state championship was wrapped up by the Patriots. 

Oh, yeah about the friends of siblings - Ryan Rohn brought a friend along, and the two of them made enough noise for an entire cheering section. It brought back fond memories of Frank McClure leading a bunch of CCS students in cheers for the team in 2006, only these guys were a little funnier.

This was the first state championship since Rachel Kizer's (and Lyssa McClure's and Karissa Porter's) senior year, four years ago. That was also the last year Calumet won a national title at NACA, in Division II. It was the year before that Calumet last had an undefeated regular season. If the girls win tomorrow night, they will complete a perfect regular season. And if the girls win NACA, it will be the first DI national title ever for Calumet. Go get it, girls!