By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The East Buchanan Bulldogs volleyball team came face to face with a familiar foe in the Class 2 Sectionals of the MSHSAA Girls Volleyball State Tournament, taking on the KCI Conference winner Lawson Cardinals.
In the regular season, the Bulldogs had tough luck against the Cardinals. A tie and a loss in the KCI Conference Tournament in early September, and later in the same month a 3-0 loss on the Cardinals court. But the playoffs were a different story, and this time in Lawson, East Buchanan beat the Cardinals in four sets 3-1, to move on to the Class 2 Quarterfinals.
"Obviously right now we're pretty excited, I thought it was something we could do, I knew it would be a fight with them, they're such a great team, they're so well coached, but to be able to do it here I guess if you were gonna win one, this is the one you want to win," Head Coach Ryan Horn tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post following the game.
It didn't start off in East Buchanan's favor however, in fact it was almost the polar opposite. The Cardinals stormed out to an early seven point lead, without the Bulldogs getting a point, forcing a timeout. After the timeout, East Buchanan did fight it's way back, but ultimately fell 25-20. The team though looked different from then on.
Horn says the early timeout after falling behind in the first set helped shift the teams mindset.
"I think that we realized we could play with them first off, we looked a little scared there early on, then we changed it and we just started playing like we've been playing lately," Horn explains. "We changed a couple things defensively, and of course they changed some things offensively, but it was just a different attitude after those first seven points basically."
The second set was all Bulldogs, as they never let the Cardinals get close, pulling away early and going up 15-8 at first before a timeout, then going on after the break to win the set 25-15.
It was the final two sets that got more wild. East Buchanan and Lawson battled back and forth in the third set, a timeout was first called with the Bulldogs up 16-14 in the set, and after the timeout the Cardinals continued to stay close, until East Buchanan pulled away for good winning set three 25-19.
Lawson looked determined early in the final set to force the game to five sets, first taking an 11-7 lead before an East Buchanan timeout. Out of the timeout, the Cardinals held the lead, until the Bulldogs called their final timeout trailing 20-17. In that final timeout, three players stepped up to lead.
Kaylynn Engnes, Layla Watkins, and Brooklyn Johnson were all just freshman the last time East Buchanan made a trip to the final four. Horn says having them in these moments means a lot, and says you heard it during that final timeout.
"That very last timeout they just took over, I didn't even get to say a word, it was so important to them," Horn says. "But they've been there, they've seen what it takes to get there, and they've seen what Layla's older sister, and Kaylynn's been around a long time and seen her older sister come really close to a final four, and they know what it takes, and I think in that moment they just wanted everybody to know hey we're good, but you've got to fight right here."
The Bulldogs came out of the timeout and took the next two points, forcing a Lawson timeout down 20-19, after the timeout it was back and forth with East Buchanan first going up 21-20, then Lawson making it 21-21, soon enough it was 22-22, and then 23-23, before the Cardinals made it set point going up 24-23. East Buchanan tied it again though, and then took the next two points winning 26-24.
Horn says that last set was one of the crazier ones that he has been a part of.
"I looked over and I saw Coach (Becky) Harrold laughing a couple times, I was laughing, just some of the craziness that scored points in that set, it could have easily gone the other way on each point let alone the whole set," Horn says. "It's been awhile since I've been a part of one like that, but it was good to be on the good side of it."
East Buchanan will host Lafayette County in the Class 2 state quarterfinals on Saturday. The winner advances to the Final Four, which will be held next Wednesday at the Civic Arena in downtown St. Joseph.
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