Sitting in the bleachers on the second floor of the Jasper High School gymnasium Saturday, I witnessed several things at a high level.
The number of fans that showed up to support not just their school but both Jackson County schools was impressive. I noticed many fans of Brownstown Central and Trinity Lutheran intermingling.
One of my favorite moments was after Trinity captured a three-set win over Bloomfield, the players joined the student section for about half of the first set of the Brownstown-Evansville Memorial match until they walked to the opposite side of the gym and joined the Brownstown student section. That drew applause from Braves fans and the cheerblock. The Trinity students even joined the Brownstown students in reciting chants.
The level of play on the court was impressive, too. Class A No. 1 Trinity and Bloomfield battled early on in each set until the Cougars showed their prowess. In the following match between the top teams in Class 3A, once Brownstown gained the advantage, the Braves were unstoppable.
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In both matches, the one thing that stood out to me the most was the enthusiasm and confidence I saw in the players and coaches. When the opponent had a small rally or a player made an error, no one seemed rattled. The players joined together after a big kill or block, and that boosted their momentum to finish out the set.
Trinity coach Faith Wilder-Newland and Brownstown coach Jennifer Shade also exuded confidence in their teams. Players feed off of knowing their coaches believe in them.
The level of spirit was high, too. While the cheers were there after a point throughout each set, fans got louder and stood when they realized their team was on the verge of winning a set. Again, players feed off of that.
I also noted the level of Jackson County pride. After Trinity won, the Brownstown players rushed over to hug the Cougars’ players, and the coaches congratulated each other, too. The same happened after the Braves wrapped up their win. My favorite moment was when the two teams came together for one picture with their sectional trophies. What a special moment.
As the state finals approaches this Saturday at Ball State University’s Worthen Arena in Muncie, the Braves and Cougars will be competing at the highest level of Indiana high school volleyball. Jackson County will be represented in two of the four games.
How cool is that?
I expect all of the things I have mentioned in this column — number of fans, level of play, enthusiasm, confidence, spirit and pride — to be at a high level again. All of the hard work put in by players and coaches in the offseason, regular season and thus far in the postseason culminates with an opportunity to make school history by winning a team state title.
While Brownstown and Trinity have had teams reach the state finals in various sports, none have hoisted a state champion trophy. Why not change that this weekend?
If they play at a high level and have a lot of fans there backing them, there’s no stopping them.
Zach Spicer is a reporter for The Tribune. Send comments to [email protected].