BLOOMINGTON
The pride Santina Schembra felt late Saturday morning eclipsed any pain she was experiencing.
Schembra, one of three seniors on the Center Grove volleyball team, savored her final season, which ended with a 25-19, 29-27, 23-25, 25-18 semifinal loss to No. 2 Providence at the Class 4A regional at Bloomington North.
“This season was awesome. It was a different bond this year than last year,” said Schembra, a defensive specialist and one of the ninth-ranked Trojans’ three captains. “I really loved that no matter what time or what happens in life, the team was there.
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“It’s not just a team on the court. It was on and off the court. You always had someone by your side no matter what.”
Center Grove had opportunities to take down the Pioneers in a match that lasted just over two hours and featured numerous crowd-pleasing rallies. In the end, the 30 kills of Providence outside hitter Ali Hornung proved too much to overcome.
Eight of the sophomore’s kills were in the opening set. The Trojans looked to tie it with a win in the second set and, trailing 18-13, rallied to tie it on six occasions before a kill from Pioneers senior middle hitter Hanna Mitchell put Center Grove on the brink of elimination.
“The difference was Providence stepped up in those situations and handled the ball a little better, were more aggressive and kept a lot of pressure on us,” said Trojans coach Chris Due, whose squad finished with a record of 27-7.
“In crunch time they just really took it to a whole different level, and we weren’t very crisp with our play.”
Center Grove trailed late in the third set, 22-17, but staged an impressive comeback to force a fourth set. But Providence raced to a 9-3 advantage at the start of the fourth, stretched it to 18-7 and never looked back.
Sophomore middle blocker Grace Boggess led the Trojans with 11 kills, followed by junior Anna Line with seven and Graci Gasper and Calista Stafford six apiece. Junior setter Madison Hammill also contributed six kills to go along with her 25 assists.
Her eyes reddened from tears, Hammill reflected on the season.
“Just all around, it was amazing from coaching to senior leadership to all the newcomers and everybody who stepped up from JV and freshmen,” she said. “All the way around, it was just incredible to play with everyone.”
Due expressed similar gratitude following his first season as Center Grove coach.
“It was an amazing experience,” Due said. “From Day 1, meeting the players and parents, all the players showing up in the weight room and at open gyms, just to see the mentality that is at Center Grove. All the girls worked hard and put a lot of time and effort into it.
“I just love the mentality there. Nothing but a great experience.”
