The Women’s varsity volleyball team, ranked #1 in the state, drove to Forest Grove Friday morning to play Sprague, ranked #9. They had just defeated Gresham in the first round of playoffs and South Salem in the second round.

Jesuit began the match with confidence, but Sprague was determined to put up a fight. Jesuit gave up the first two sets with close scores of 23-25 and 19-25. However, with senior and outside hitter Ceanna O’Loughlin back in the game for the third set, the Crusaders came back strong and turned the match around, winning the third set with a wide point gap and a final score of 25-14.

Jesuit and Sprague wrestled for the point lead during the entire fourth set, but Jesuit eventually took the fourth set 25-20. With the fifth set only going to 15 points, the Crusaders took the fifth set with a final score of 15-13, securing the victory and their spot in the semifinals with the match ending 3-2.

Semifinals

The road to the state championship for the Crusaders was not over.

After beating Sprague and remaining undefeated, Jesuit faced Nelson, ranked #5, in the semifinals Friday evening. After taking the first set with a score of 25-23, Jesuit fought hard to catch up to Nelson at match point. However, Jesuit lost the second set with a score of 24-26, and continued to drop the third set 21-25.

The Crusaders were not discouraged. They fought hard with Nelson to take back the fourth set with a score of 25-20. With the score at 2-2, the fifth set would determine who would play in the state championship on Saturday. Jesuit began the set lagging behind and eventually called a time-out with the score at 12-10. Despite the trailing lead, a kill from freshman Jada Johnson gave the Crusaders the push they needed to get ahead, and a kill from junior Lilly Lansing won the set.

Jesuit advanced to the finals for a shot at the state championship title.

Finals

Facing Sheldon, ranked #3, Jesuit started the game strong in the first set with strong spikes from O’Loughlin and senior Isabel Patterson as well as a strong defense from Lansing and senior Avery Pickard. In the first few minutes, the Crusaders gained a big point gap with the score at 12-5. Yet, Sheldon managed to close in and tie the set at 20-20. Jesuit stayed strong despite the challenge and took the set 25-23.

Sheldon refused to let up after losing the first set. Jesuit and Sheldon wrestled for a lead in points at the very beginning of the second set, and the tug-of-war continued until the very end of the set when Sheldon managed to get ahead and take the second set 20-25.

The third set was similar with Jesuit constantly tailing behind Sheldon by just a few points, but they eventually had to give up the third set with a score of 21-25.

The fourth set was full of tension and pressure, with high stakes for both teams. Jesuit managed to keep up with Sheldon and tied the game at 6-6, but that was where they began to lag. Sheldon took the chance and widened the point gap, and Jesuit eventually called a timeout at a score of 10-15. After that, Jesuit was only able to score 5 more points before Sheldon took the set with a score of 15-25 and won the match.

Jesuit Women’s Volleyball placed 2nd in state and had an overall successful season. The team was proud of all their accomplishments this year.

“We weren’t able to pull it out,” said Pickard, “but we win as a team, and we lose as a team.”