The Bloomington South volleyball team had a couple of déjà vu moments at Saturday's Class 4A Martinsville Sectional.
The first instance was not the good kind, as the Panthers had to outlast stubborn Terre Haute North in five sets again in their postseason opener and then brought home the crown for the second year in a row with a little less drama, taking down Terre Haute South, 25-15, 25-12, 25-13.
"We talk about taking it one game, one ball at a time," South coach Emma Abplanalp said. "We're going to get everyone's best game at this point. We know everyone's after us, so I think our mindset going in is we're going to be tested.
"We were actually feeling it our first game. It was an eye opener. It goes back to what we say, trust your training. We prepare for these situations."
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South (28-2), which tied the school record for wins in a season, moves on to regional and a rematch with Columbus East (14-16) at Bloomington North on Oct. 24 at 4 p.m. The improving Olympians won their first title since 2022 by taking down Franklin (17-13) in five (27-25, 15-25, 25-23, 19-25, 17-15).
South's semifinal was almost identical to the 2025 sectional opener, even producing nearly the same scores. As before, South won the first two sets (25-20, 25-15) then gave up the next two (22-25, 19-25), then pulled out a 15-12 win.
"Terre Haute North reacted well and played a hell of a game," Abplanalp said. "We realized it was win or go home and we're not done yet. So our experience really helped there.
"Then the second match, we were able to pick it back up and we took care of business. We did not let up at all. Overall, we played really well the last game. Our passing was great and that helped our setters do a really good job of getting balls to our hitters."
Mia Jackson played a big role in closing out the Patriots. Set 5 was tied 12-12 when she had a big block to put South up for good and then had a big swing that came right back as an overpass she was able to put to the floor to end it."
With that out of the way, they wasted no time in eliminating the Braves (17-16). Terre Haute South beat Bloomington North 25-17, 16-25, 25-20, 26-24 in the other semi, ending the Cougars season at 11-22.
"Quinn (Reynolds) did a good job," Abplanalp said. "She stepped up as a senior. Lily (Reinhart) really stood out. She was aggressive at the net. She really played well.
"And Harper (Rohn), served really well in some long runs. We came out and served aggressively in that second game and it showed."
Now, it's time to go break through the regional wall for the first time since 1977.
"We're grateful and happy to get (the sectional title) and move on," Abplanalp said. "But we also know it's time to get back in the gym. We have a lot of work to do to take care of regional this year."
3A Sectional at Indian Creek
As an assistant baseball coach, Sam Jones knows there are times to just tip the cap to the other team.
His Edgewood volleyball team just ran into a buzzsaw in the finals against Northview, which did little wrong in a 25-13, 25-10, 25-11 victory that earned a fifth straight title.
"We have all the respect in the world for Northview," Jones said. "They're a great team with a lot of weapons. I told girls in the middle of the match, 'Right now, they're firing on all cylinders and we didn't have anything going real well. Some of that was their strengths overwhelmed us at different points."
Northview has a bit more firepower from different spots on the floor this year, with a 6-2 system keeping things humming. Defensively, they had the Mustangs (17-15) flummoxed.
"They're a great blocking team and we knew we had to challenge that and try to find a way to make them uncomfortable," Jones said. "When their block is doing a nice job of closing, it forced us to hit stuff off-speed or around the block, and they had a good enough defense, they rotated right into where we were getting stuff through."
Edgewood opened the day with a solid 25-19, 25-11, 25-21 win over Indian Creek.
"We served very well in the first match," Jones said. "But we never could get Northview out of system. We had a lot of long rallies, but any 50-50 rally seemed like it went their way. And that wears on you."
Class 1A at Loogootee
Ticket buyers for the semifinal session got their money's worth with 10 sets worth of combat.
It started with Lighthouse Christian (17-8) suffering a reverse sweep at the hands of Orleans with a 18-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-13. Then came a stunner as Shoals tripped up Loogootee 25-22, 21-25, 29-27, 14-25, 15-8.
The Jug Rox (26-3) went on to sweep Orleans and win their first title since the single-class days of 1993.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Just like last year, Bloomington South volleyball wins sectional title