Tornadoes hold off Eagles to claim 2nd straight district title

WILLARD - It all came down to one set, and the last two points. Columbian knew exactly the lady for the job.Kaela Jenkins sent a spike straight into the ground.Then, Toledo Notre Dame Academy did the same, cutting TC's fifth-set lead to 14-13.One last block from Devyn Koster to a Jenkins kill was no good as the ball dropped in front of Koster at the right corner of the net.The Tornadoes defeated the Eagles 17-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-15, 15-13 in a Division III district final at Willard on Wednesday."It was all them," TC coach Hope Boes said. "They had the moment they stepped into this gym. They have a never-quit attitude, and they play well together."This season marks the second straight district championship for the Tornadoes (18-7). "I'm just so proud of us," senior hitter Kaela Jenkins said. "The way that we come together is amazing. At the end, we said we don't even remember the last little bit, but we worked together and that's what brought it altogether for us so that we could win."The teamwork came in handy as the Tornadoes had to work all five sets."To come back … there's never a moment where I didn't think we couldn't come back from because of the teamwork we have," senior Gabby Shock said.Shock had one assist, three kills, five blocks, and two digs.In the final set, TC took a two point lead before NDA (4-18) came back to tie it up at 2-2. Then Koster had a kill. Jenkins came back with a kill to tie it back up but the tie didn't stick as Josie Kancler had a spike that went out of bounds. From there, NDA started to put points on the board. Kancler had 17 digs on the night.After a Morgan Malczewski kill as well as a Adele Puhl kill, TC was in the hole by five points, 10-5. TC started to close when it caused NDA to spike the ball out of bounds twice. The defense had Lexi Beaston and Shock blocking balls.But it wasn't until Jenkins came in and had back-to-back kills that broke a tie at 11-11 and pulled the Tornadoes in the lead that TC knew how close it was going to be."Get the ball up, keep it in the air," Shock said, "We knew we would have to work for every ball that came our way."Added Jenkins: "We knew we had to keep being aggressive and keeping hitting the balls over."Jenkins had two aces, 24 kills, six blocks, and three digs.In the fourth set, NDA took a lead temporarily at 3-2 before a serve from Kylie Lycourt went out of bounds and tied it right back up. TC took the lead after Avary Brown had a kill and an ace followed by a Jenkins kill. NDA continued to be in the hole the rest of the set. The Tornadoes didn't start putting the Eagles into the rearview mirror until Brown and Beaston had a kill each, bringing it to 19-11. Before that, it had remained about a five point difference.From there, TC scored points on a Beaston kill, along with a Jenkins kill, making it 22-14. The Eagles knew they were in trouble when Beaston had an ace towards the end of the set making it 24-14. One last kill form KylieEmma Obeto, who hits similarly to Jenkins, scored the final point for the Eagles in the set. Jenkins nailed a kill into space to end the set, putting TC 2-2 in the match.Brown had four aces, six kills, 44 assists, one block, and six digs."It was the net ball mentality," Jenkins said. "We knew we had to keep being aggressive and if we had a mistake, we knew it was because we had to continue being aggressive."The match didn't start out that way though. TC put six points on the board before NDA caught up and surpassed them. The Tornadoes played catch up, and closed the gap before tying with them 14-14. After a block from Jenkins, it put TC one point ahead, but then Obeto had a kill, changing the lead, before Lycourt had a ball hit the net. The teams would tie one more a little later in the set 17-17 before NDA went on an eight point run to finish the set."It was the next ball, net set mentality," Shock said. "We knew if we lost a set that we were going to work harder to get the next one."The second set, TC put five points on before Obeto had a kill that put a point on 5-1. From there, TC had short burst runs that would have the Eagles chasing. After Brown had two consecutive aces, it was 18-11. A little later, Beaston had a kill that made the Eagles scramble but it rattled NDA. The last point in that set from NDA came on a kill, but Brown had a kill for TC, along with Jenkins having a successful block, and then having another kill that caused NDA to go into the net is what had TC tie it at 1-1.In set three, NDA hit the first four points over, and had TC chasing and it was the only set that the teams never tied. Late in the set, Beaston had a kill, and Erica Raubenolt had an ace, put NDA still led 20-17. The Eagles put three ore points on the board before TC made a run for it and brought it a 23-20 on a Jenkins and Shock block. An ace from Beaston brought it to 23-21, but an Obeto kill and a bump out of bounds from Shock tipped the match in favor of NDA.Beaston had two aces, 11 kills, one assist, one block and seven digs. Emma Daugherty had nine digs, while Caroline Newlove had one dig and Raubenolt had one ace and one kill."The girls never gave up," Boes said. "The goal is always to win and never stop until you get it."TC will now face Toledo St. Ursula Academy next Thursday at Norwalk at 8 p.m. For the seniors, they have one simple message."We just have to keep doing our thing," Shock said.Boes agreed with both girls."We just have to keep playing together," said Jenkins about moving onto regionals. "Keep playing to win."