GREENFIELD — It took a while, but the Greenfield-Central Cougars finally found their rhythm.
The hosts of volleyball’s Sectional 9 jumped out to an early advantage against Connersville in a sectional opener Thursday, taking a big lead in the opening set to build some momentum.
They took the first set and pushed on to Saturday’s sectional semifinals from there, topping the Spartans 25-14, 25-22, 22-25, 25-9.
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It wasn’t until the fourth set that the Cougars (21-11) really found their footing.
“I think getting into Saturday, you’ve got to have momentum, you’ve got to have kids that believe they can play at a high level,” Greenfield-Central coach Travis Fuller said. “We weren’t doing that the first three sets. I think they finally got settled in, and sometimes it takes a little bit of humility before you start doing that kind of stuff.”
After pulling away in the first set and coming back from a deficit late in the second set, the Cougars found themselves trailing again in the third and couldn’t quite catch up.
Between the third and fourth sets, things finally clicked into place.
“What clicked for them, that was all them between the third and fourth set,” Fuller said. “I was over here with the coaching staff, looking to see what changes we need to make, and I walked over there into the middle of a pretty good conversation that was going on between our seniors. I think they knew what they needed to do the whole time — it was just getting out there, believing in themselves and getting it done.”
The Cougars began the match with three straight points, eventually building a 7-2 lead in the first set. After the Spartans (11-22) rolled off three straight points, the hosts responded with seven straight of their own, seizing momentum back and rolling to a 25-14 first-set win.
Connersville didn’t make things easy after that.
The second set was back and forth, with the Connersville going on two separate runs to tie the score at 16 and at 19. The Spartans put the pressure on with three straight points, but the Cougars responded finished the set with six straight points.
Connersville didn’t let the second-set loss deflate them, jumping out to an 8-2 lead in the third set and forcing a Greenfield-Central timeout. The Spartans held on out of that break, taking the third set 25-22.
It was all Cougars in the fourth set, as the hosts took the lead immediately and never looked back, finally finding their rhythm.
“With this group being young, this is what we wanted. We wanted them to get out there, have to get their feet underneath them before Saturday,” Fuller said. “You can win and not get in your rhythm. What was important for us was we finally got into that rhythm in that fourth set.”
Greenfield-Central was led by Ava Antic’s 19 kills and 10 digs. Hannah Burkhart had 33 digs, Morgan Hornaday had 47 assists and Makayla Price had six kills, most coming in the fourth set off the bench to help spark the hosts.
The Cougars will be looking for a bit of sectional payback on Saturday. Greenfield-Central’s season ended last year in the sectional opener, a 3-0 loss to Mt. Vernon.
The Marauders await the Cougars in Saturday’s 12:30 p.m. semifinal game at Greenfield-Central. The winner of that game will face the winner of Saturday’s 11 a.m. game between Pendleton Heights and New Palestine. The Arabians advanced with a 3-0 win against Richmond in Thursday’s first game.
“It’s so much about getting yourself in a rhythm and playing well,” Fuller said. “Yeah, you wish you get out of here with a sweep, but when you get in the tournament, things are never going to go the way you think you’re going to go. I was happy that we had the opportunity to be out there and finish on a really high note.”