INDIANAPOLIS — First came the payback, then the heartbreak.
The New Palestine volleyball team avenged the past during Saturday morning’s Class 4A Sectional 10 semifinal round at North Central High School by defeating Lawrence North, 3-0, in a tug-of-war.
In the sectional finals that same night, the Dragons (24-5) pressured defending champion Indianapolis Cathedral (20-12), but the Fighting Irish eventually prevailed, 3-0, to capture their 29th title all time and fourth straight.
The Dragons’ initial playoff victory was a direct response from 2020 when the Lawrence North Wildcats ended New Palestine’s season during the sectional semifinals, 3-2.
While a three-set sweep for the Dragons this time around, their eighth win in their past nine matches was far from uncontested.
It was a grueling test that took it’s toll.
“I just told them with the grit that they had to finish off that third set (against Lawrence North) because we were down quite a bit,” New Palestine head coach Kelli Gabehart said. “I burned two timeouts. At the end of the match, we had three missed serves, but they didn’t give up. They could have easily just said, ‘This one is over. We’re just going to get it in the fourth,’ but they didn’t. They clawed back, and they found a way under pressure.”
New Palestine won the first set over the Wildcats, 25-14, behind two substantial rallies of 6-2 and 6-0, which put the Dragons ahead by as many as 11 points.
Up 1-0, the Dragons had to dig deep in the second set before winning, 25-21.
Lawrence North led by four and three points early on until an ace by junior Reagan Kleiman tied the match 10-all.
After six ties overall, Kleiman and junior setter Isabella Gizzi captained a decisive 7-1 rally, as the Dragons’ defense held strong, to put the set away.
In the third, the Wildcats pushed the Dragons nearly to the brink with 15 ties and a late, three-point lead, 20-17, and later, 24-21.
“In practice, we’ve doing those scenarios. The score is 22-20, how are we going to come back? That’s what (assistant coach) Bill (Rumely) said during the timeout. ‘We’ve done this,'” Gabehart said. “When you give them that confidence in practice; we did it today when it mattered. I’m just so proud of the fight and the togetherness of this group.”
A key block by senior Lauren Cornwell sparked the comeback, deadlocking the match at 24-all. A Lauren Wilson kill knotted it up, again, 25-all, and another block by Cornwell made it 26-all.
Cornwell followed up a Wilson kill with her third block to seal the win and move the Dragons into the sectional finals, 28-26.
“Lauren Cornwell, those three blocks towards the end of the match. Incredible. I think the whole team was in tears being so happy for her,” Gabehart said.
Kleiman had 20 kills in the semifinal match. Wilson, a freshman, finished with 16, senior Jada Hausz had four, Cornwell added three and Gizzi posted five to go with 39 assists and eight digs.
The Dragons’ defense was led by senior Grace Myers’ 22 digs. Senior McKaylah Flagle had nine. Junior Honour Mallory dove for seven, while Wilson had five and senior Trinity Oertel worked for five.
“That’s something I’ve always taken pride in with our program. That we care a lot about what we do. We care about each other. I care about the players, and I think that translates into we wanting to give everything we have for the program,” Gabehart said.
“We wear Dragons across our chest. There’s a lot to play for, so I’ve always prided our team on never giving up. We’re always in it. You just have to find a way, and sometimes, you come out on top.”
The Dragons almost replicated the feat in the sectional finals against powerhouse Cathedral, which has won 18 titles since 2000, including eight in the past 10 years.
“They have a super talented team, and they had a really strong season. I’m not going to lie, we were a bit nervous coming in, but we just came in and said, ‘Alright, we’re going to play to our strengths, and then we’ll adjust from there,'” Cathedral head coach Mary Hemer said. “Attacking is one of our strengths, so that’s really what we focused on.”
At the start, the Dragons went on the offensive, building a 5-1 lead before the Irish stormed back through 10 ties and four lead changes.
Kleiman’s offseason club teammates with Munciana Volleyball, Cathedral sophomore Taylor Lewis and junior Karsyn Kramer, were major factors in the Irish’s, 25-23, first-set win.
Cathedral tied the match 18-all on an error and pulled ahead 21-18 and 22-19 before kills from Cornwell, Gizzi, Kleiman and Wilson stalemated the match at 23-all.
From there, a kill and a block from Lewis halted the Dragons’ hope of stealing the first set.
“What could have happened, if we would have got that first set? The momentum really changed, I think, after that. It was just hard to get things going. We didn’t really find a rhythm tonight like we did this morning,” Gabehart said.
Cathedral ran out to a 9-0 advantage in the second set and established an 11-point margin prior to winning 25-17.
“I told them before the match and even before we got into the gym that is was going to be a battle, and they had to be ready to weather the storm. I think they did that in the first set really well,” Hemer said. “The play on both sides was really great, and we just got real lucky and real aggressive, honestly, doing some great things that just happened to be nine points in a row to begin the second.”
The Dragons regrouped in the third set to turn a 9-5 deficit into an 11-10 lead following a 6-1 rally spearheaded by the defense and Kleinman.
The Irish responded with a 7-2 run that tilted the scoreboard, 17-13, as Lewis and junior Hannah Barbee logged a combined four kills. A block and a kill by senior Katherine Bremer put Cathedral up, 22-17.
Lewis’ final kill ended the match, 25-19.
“We have a pass-and-serve before we leave for every match, and this pass-and-serve, we seemed a little bit tired because we really poured everything into that morning match. Not only physically but emotionally, so I do think we seemed a little bit tired,” Gabehart said. “But, I think, we got outplayed today, too. I don’t want to say it’s just because of that.”
Instead, Gabehart and her coaches used words such as pride and heart during the Dragons’ post-game huddle.
“It’s just tough because these girls are a great bunch to coach, and it’s been an awesome season. We’ve done a great job in the conference this year. Our record is phenomenal and we’ve beaten a lot of teams that are good, and I don’t think people expected us to play at the level that we played,” Gabehart said. “There’s a lot to be proud of.”
Over the past four seasons, the Dragons’ seniors amassed 85 victories compared to 35 losses while placing fourth in a highly-competitive Hoosier Heritage Conference this year.
Kleiman had 12 kills in the sectional championship match. Wilson backed her up with 11. Hausz hammered down four, and Gizzi distributed 26 assists.
Myers and Gizzi had 24 and 16 digs, respectively.
“They gave me everything they had. Like I said in that huddle, they stayed locked in and they stayed committed to the end. Sometimes, you have groups where once it’s sectional, they’re just like, this is the end, I think I’m done,” Gabehart said. “But, that was not this group. They really wanted to win. They were great leaders on the team.”
