MODOC — There was a celebration to be sure.
It was the calm of the Golden Bears, though, that told the story of the team they have become.
Calm when they fell behind 16-11 in the second set.
Calm when they trailed throughout the third and faced quadruple set-point.
And calm even as they erased that deficit and were on the precipice of victory.
It wasn’t until Lillian Williams’ attack slammed into the net that the Golden Bear growl was finally released at full force to celebrate a 25-12, 25-17, 26-24 win over the Blue River Valley Vikings that gave the Monroe Central High School its first volleyball sectional championship since 2010.
“That felt amazing,” said senior Shyan Bennett, who had a team-high four aces to go along with nine kills in the Class 1A Sectional 56 final at Union. “I’ve been through a lot with this team — the ups, the downs, the good, the bads of this season — but when that last ball just hit the floor, it was just like a moment of joy because as a team we work our tails off. Our coaches believe in us like no one else. And I just love this team and it truly means the world to me that we were able to do this.”
The team advances to play second-ranked Faith Christian (28-4) in the regional championship match Saturday, Oct. 25. Tournament sites will be announced Sunday.
Before Thursday’s dismantling of defending champion Seton Catholic in the opening round, the Golden Bears had not won a sectional match, let alone a championship, in six years.
Teamwork and trust were the ingredients that took them to the title.
“These girls have truly figured out what it is to play together, to support each other, even in those moments where things get tough,” said MCHS coach Rick Johnson, whose team lost to Blue River in five sets less than two weeks earlier. “We found ourselves in some deficits tonight. And before what we would have done is let those deficits bring us down and cripple us for the remainder of that set. And what they’ve done here in sectionals, they’ve found a way to get back, support each other and fight back and finish the job.”
Trailing 24-20 in the third but with a two-set lead, it would have been understandable for the Golden Bears (13-19) to let down a bit and regroup in the fourth. They weren’t thinking that way at all. They wanted to get that trophy in their hands as soon as humanly possible.
Looking primed to capture the set, the Vikings (13-15) made the mistake of handing the ball back to Monroe Central on a service error. They would never see it again. Bennett recorded a kill and Blue River Valley called a timeout after a net violation cut its lead to a single point.
An attack error went wide right to even the score and, after senior libero Sophia Bolton sent herself flying toward the left sideline to make a save, Williams sent a shot long.
“I just, like, I can’t let any ball drop,” said Bolton. “I owe it to my team. I owe it to myself. I need to keep the ball in the air. And it feels amazing just to be able to do that for my team.”
The Vikings went to their junior leader again with the match on the line, but her attack from the left side careened into the net to end the match.
Monroe Central also had to rally for victory in the second set as it fell behind 16-11 after dominating the first. A service error put the ball in the hands of Bennett, who spread out three aces and got help via two kills each from fellow senior Hadley Hendrickson (12 kills) and freshman Mckenna Murphy (six kills) as she served nine consecutive points.
Blue River Valley finally managed to stop the run, but another service error led to two Hendrickson aces before a Murphy kill completed a 14-1 finishing run for the Golden Bears.
What did Monroe Central do to make such a comeback happen?
“Just stick together and just, like, not getting frustrated, and just coming together as a team and just say, ‘Reset,’” said Hendrickson, who returned to the squad this season after missing all of 2024 with a knee injury. “And we’re just gonna come back and we’re gonna show who we truly are.”
The Golden Bears showed who they have become, though Saturday night’s celebration did not always seem likely. Though they more than doubled their regular-season win total from a year ago, they also at one point lost eight straight matches. They had not won more than two in a row all year. And they dropped their final two of the regular season, including the five-set loss at Blue River Valley on Oct. 9.
Nine days later, they’ve won nine consecutive sets, swept the Vikings and are heading to a regional for the first time in 15 years.
“These girls, they have wanted this so badly,” said Johnson. “We’ve had our ups and downs throughout this season, but these girls made it set in their minds that they wanted to give it the hardest possible fight here in the end, make this the best end possible … and they’ve done just that.”