Bloomington Central Catholic unable to overcome talented Columbia, falls in state championship game
- Michael Savoie
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
NORMAL – For the second-consecutive year, Bloomington Central Catholic fell in the state championship game in three sets, after taking the first set.
In 2024, the Saints (36-6, 9-0 Illini Prairie) fell to Breese Mater Dei in the Class 2A championship game, and on Saturday night they fell to Columbia in three sets: 25-19, 20-25, 17-25.
Kampbell Niepagen led the Saints with 12 kills; she along with Kendall Fair and Regan Baker added two aces apiece. Avery Duff had a team-high three blocks and Josie Certa added 27 assists to lead the Saints.
"It's hard right now because it's so fresh," Menendez said of the season-ending loss. "I was just walking over here thinking you [girls] still have a lot to be proud of."
The first set could not have gone better for BCC out of the gate. The Saints used kills from Fair, Rosie Krenz, and Duff as well as multiple errors from Columbia to jump out to a 7-0 lead. The Saints would not have their lead be less than nine until it was 17-9.
Columbia would mount a 4-0 run to make things more interesting at 18-14, but BCC would not falter as it would not bring the scoring margin below four the rest of the way to get the opening-set win.
"The first set we really tried to focus on coming out hot with an intensity that maybe [Columbia] had not seen yet this season" Menendez said. "I think we did catch them off guard in that respect, knowing it was a ticking time bomb."
The second set did not start as kindly for BCC, who found itself trailing 7-1 thanks in part to two kills apiece from Columbia's Marly Matthews and Claire Sandstrom before Menendez called a timeout.
Outside of the timeout, the Saints began to inch closer. Two Niepagen kills and an error from the Eagles made the BCC deficit at 7-4. Columbia would not budge its lead until another Niepagen kill made it 15-14 Saints. Columbia would retake its lead immediately after and take it the distance for the equalizer.
"That [momentum] swung back in the second set, and they got a pretty big lead [at the start]" Menendez said. "We came back, which speaks to volumes to our defense and our attention behind the line.
"At the end of the day, when you face a good team like that, it's a matter of just a couple of errors that are back-to-back. They came out on top this time."
The Eagles threw the first punch with a set-opening kill from Maura Kohlenberger in the final set, but this time BCC would respond early. A Krenz kill, an ace from Ella Horner, two kills from Niepagen, and two attacking errors from Columbia would extend BCC's lead to 6-1.
Columbia would inch its way closer throughout the set, it used a 9-1 run to take a 12-11 lead mid-way through. It would be a lead that it would not relinquish on the way to the state championship win.
The point that gave the Eagles the lead came from a kill from Ava Matthews. Overall, Columbia hitters had a good day in the office, registering 33 total kills, 25 of those coming in the final two sets.
"We went into the game thinking we're going to tip and hit our shots," Sandstrom said. "It ended up being executed, but if a block was there, we would find tips and rolls.
"And if not, we would just hammer [them]."
BCC has everything to be proud of after another second place finish in the 2A state finals. Not every team in the state will experience the state finals, let alone experience it twice in a row.
"We said [before the season] that we wanted to win a state championship," Bloomington Central Catholic head coach Jenny Menendez said. "There's a lot to be said about coming out and vocalizing a goal like that. Even though we fell short today, throughout the rest of their lives, [hopefully] that sends a life message to them."