COMMENTARY

It was perfect timing. I had my annual heart checkup last Thursday morning, which came out amazing. And it is a good thing because what I witnessed later that night would cause any heart to feel the stress.

I obviously don’t watch as many volleyball games in my life as I do basketball, but I watch my share. I can say unquestionably that Thursday night’s Division 3 Regional tournament game was the greatest I can remember ever seeing.

Tippecanoe came into the matchup with a perfect conference record and another league title. They were about to compete against the #1 ranked team in Ohio, and Cincinnati Ursuline had some hitters that were completely next level.

Tipp had something to prove. If not to their fans, to themselves. They knew they were in conversation among the best teams in Ohio, and they more than proved it last week.

Ursuline got the win, but the two-hour match was epic. The match went five games, and the Red Devils were on the verge of trying to pull off their biggest win of the season.

Unfortunately, the Lions took a 12-12 game in the final set and scored the final three points to keep their state title hopes alive while sending Tipp home with their second loss of the season.

The impressive thing I liked about Tipp was how well this team played together. They were so in sync and didn’t let the ranking get to them. They had Ursuline on the ropes and could have won that game with a couple of plays here or there.

Both teams displayed outstanding net presence. Katie Gielas from Ursuline hit the ball as hard as anyone I can ever remember, but the game of Savannah Clawson, Courtney Post, Emily Aselage, and Abby Mader was up to the challenge.

Jenna Krimm and Bri Morris controlled the Tipp offense with a combined 53 assists, while Addy Franz dished out 47 of them for Ursuline.

The game was like two heavyweight prize fighters going at it. It was what high school sports are supposed to be about. The Tipp fans who attended were very supportive and the Ursuline student section, an all-girls school, brought it for their team.

I walked out of Lakota East with a blasting headache from watching that stressful fifth game. And that’s normally not me…I am very emotionless at most games because I have been in this sports world for so long.

That night, my head was pounding hard, but so was my healthy heart …beating with pride for the ladies who put on a great show representing Tipp volleyball.

They got us, but we proved we belong on that level.