Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

ELWOOD - The Western Boone volleyball team hasn't lost often this year. But on the few occasions that it did occur, they tried to turn it into a positive and learning and growing from it. It was some of those lessons that helped the Stars on Saturday afternoon, leading them to a 3-1 (25-17, 25-18, 23-25, 25-12) win over defending state champion Muncie Burris to win the regional title. "It's such an amazing feeling," Western Boone head coach Laura Bragg said. "We prepared this week like we did the week before and were ready to go. There were a few nerves, which is normal, but we wanted them to play with confidence because we scouted and knew they were going to do exactly what we prepared for." The Stars cruised through the first two sets, and seemed poised for a quick afternoon on the court. But the Owls showed their grit, jumping out to a 7-1 lead in the third set. Western Boone got back within one on multiple occasions late, but couldn't finish it. That's where the Stars lessons came into play. Earlier in the season against Danville, the Stars cruised through the first two sets, lost a close third, but couldn't regroup and saw the Warriors ultimately win in five. They weren't about to let that happen again. "It was just our leaders taking over," Bragg said. "I knew we would be fine in the fourth set. In the third, there were a couple of balls that were barely off the line and just a couple of miscommunications that we wouldn't do again. We just wanted to grab control again and not let them get any momentum." The Stars did just that. Three-straight kills from Sadie Poeck early in the set helped set the tone, and Muncie Burris burned both of their timeouts early as the Stars jumped out to a 7-2 lead. Muncie Burris got within two at 9-7, but Raegan Durbin had four kills in a five-point stretch to push the lead to 14-7 and it ultimately grew to 16-7. freestar "We wanted to make sure that we were really intentional with the beginning of that set, because you can't let them get away from you and play catch up the whole time," Durbin said. "We just decided that we weren't losing that game and we wanted to finish it off in that set. We believed in each other and the rest is history." The Stars ultimately closed the set on a 16-5 run, ending the match on an ace from Olivia Cox. The regional win was the third in school history for Western Boone, all coming in the last four seasons. "We are super excited and the goal of every volleyball season is to still be playing in November," Durbin said. "I am proud us. From the very first point of that match, we were playing our best and we expect greatness from each other." Durbin finished with 28 kills in the match, with Poeck adding 16. Emmerson Gott had seven, with Janie Ransom having 47 assists. Olivia Smith had 10 digs. Western Boone will face undefeated Southwood in the semi-state semifinal at Delta High School on Saturday. They will be the second match of the day at approximately noon. The final is schedule for 7 p.m. Bragg said the main thing for the Stars is sticking to their routine. "It's going to be the exact same things, it's been working so we aren't going to change it," Bragg said. "We just want to keep on preparing well and these girls will be ready." The Stars enter the semi-state having won seven of their last eight matches. "It's probably the most confident we have been in each other the four years I have been here," Durbin said. "We know we have trained together for so long that at this point it just comes down to believing in each other and believing in ourselves. And we have that belief." Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.