COLUMBUS
Though New Castle came into Saturday’s Class 4A volleyball semistate as the top-ranked high school team in America and left the same way, Center Grove didn’t scare easily — before or after the match.
"I just wish we had another go at it," sophomore Katie Egenolf said. "If we could play another game right now, I’d put my stuff back on."
Egenolf and her Trojan teammates stunned the New Castle fans by taking the first set and sticking with the favorites throughout before their season came to an end in a 21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-20 setback.
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New Castle (34-1) has dropped just six sets all season, and only four against Indiana teams. Including the five-set battle these same two teams played in their August season opener, Center Grove has been responsible for three of those.
But when push came to shove on Saturday, New Castle had Mabrey Shaffmaster and Center Grove didn’t. The 6-foot-1 outside hitter, who was named the national freshman and sophomore of the year by MaxPreps the last two seasons, was there every time her side needed a point, finishing with 35 kills, 10 digs and three aces.
"We have big-time players, and they have some big-time players," Center Grove coach Chris Due said. "We just struggled to contain Mabrey. She had an amazing match, and really went off and hit some great shots."
The first set got off to an inauspicious beginning for Center Grove, which fell into a quick 6-1 hole and was forced to take a timeout. But the break seemed to settle the team down, as it held its ground for the next few points before eventually surging mid-set. Three consecutive kills from Egenolf cut the deficit to 12-9, and Lindsey Howard added two more shortly thereafter that made it 15-14.
Anna Line put a kill down to tie it at 16-16, and the Trojans then took their first lead when Jamie Brown bookended a Rylie McMahen ace with a pair of kills to build a 20-17 advantage. New Castle got within a point at 22-21 but then committed three errors in succession to allow Center Grove to finish off the set.
Neither side was willing to give an inch during a second set that featured 12 ties and six lead changes, and both teams went to their go-to hitters when it mattered most. Egenolf had three kills during a four-point stretch to help Center Grove tie it up for the final time at 22-22, and the sophomore had another one — her 10th of the set — to keep the team alive at 24-23. But a deep tip from Shaffmaster found the floor and allowed New Castle to even it up at a game apiece.
Letting that second set slip from their grasp seemed to knock some of the wind out of the Trojans’ sails.
"After losing that close second set, it was kind of upsetting for all of us," said senior libero Ashley Eck, who had 16 digs in the loss. "We were kind of disappointed because some calls didn’t go our way, but we can’t blame the refs for how we ended up finishing. … Everybody got upset with themselves that they made mistakes, and we just weren’t playing as a team at that point."
The letdown was more noticeable early in the third set, which Center Grove never led. But the Trojans did generate a little momentum at the end, cutting an 18-10 deficit to 24-20 before Laila Smith put down the decisive point. Those good vibes carried over into the fourth, where Center Grove picked up the first five points.
New Castle, though, surged back to build a 19-14 advantage before kills by Grace Boggess and Anna Line stemmed the tide and helped cut it to two.
Back-to-back blocks helped New Castle get back on track with a 21-17 cushion, and unsurprisingly, the girls in green went back to Shaffmaster for the final two points of the afternoon. The North Carolina commit put down her 34th and 35th kills to slam the door shut.
As overpowering as the New Castle superstar was, Egenolf nearly matched her blow for blow. The sophomore, playing what Due called her best match of the year, wound up with a career-high 28 kills.
"I wanted every ball," Egenolf said. "I wanted to hit every single ball. And I know we have so much depth, but I wanted all the balls. I didn’t have a very big block on me, and I just knew I could rip it down the line every single time."
"I’ll be honest — the coaching staff was a little nervous for her," Due added. "Being a sophomore, never playing that position and being put in a big-match situation, and I thought Katie really stepped up today. She was unstoppable at the net; she was. And MJ (Hammill) made some great decisions, put her in a lot of great situations to score the ball, and Katie took advantage of it."
The University of Wisconsin-bound Hammill had 47 assists and 23 digs in the final match of a four-year run as Center Grove’s setter. Fellow seniors Howard and Line each finished with eight kills.
Though they fell short of their ultimate goal, the nine Trojans who finished their careers on Saturday will be leaving a tremendous legacy behind, both on and off the court. In addition to winning four county and four sectional titles before this year’s run to the final four, the class boasts eight Academic All-State honorees.
"A lot of the younger kids are really going to learn from them and really take everything they’ve done to heart, and I think this program is left in great hands after these seniors leave because of that," Due said.
