NORTH ROBINSON (Crawford County Now) — Momentum was on the side of Colonel Crawford in its sectional tournament final against Bucyrus.

The Eagles ran out to a 9-0 lead to start the match and used several runs of nine-plus points to sweep the rival Lady Red, 3-0, by scores of 25-9, 25-20, 25-18, to win the Division VI sectional championship.

Though it was a sweep, Bucyrus went down swinging.

“Anytime we play them, they definitely make us work for it,” Colonel Crawford coach Jamie Valentine said. “But I feel pretty confident when we are able to kickstart our momentum and intensity a little bit and we did that those first two sets.”

Lady Red coach Amber Christy was disappointed in the slow start for her charges.

“We can play better than that. The girls know it, and I know it,” Christy said. “We had a great three days of practice. We thought we were ready to go, and we came in and just didn’t execute.”

Alaina Parr began the first set with nine consecutive service points. It set the tone for the night, as service errors were at a minimum for the Lady Eagles. CC took the 1-0 lead by a score of 25-9.

“We had a couple service errors, actually 3,” Valentine said. “In that third set, that is definitely what brought us back. Sophie (Gray) went back there and served a heck of a game in that third set — and that always gives a little momentum and changing in momentum from the other side.”

Gray had nine straight service points in a 10-0 run that brought No. 2 seed Colonel Crawford (15-8) back from a 16-11 deficit to a 21-16 lead in a set that Bucyrus (6-17) had dominated until that point. The Lady Eagles held on to win the deciding third set, 25-18.

“We let them back in when we were up in the third,” Christy said. “We just made some silly errors. But 15, 16, 17-year-old girls are going to do that.”

A highlight of the first set was that senior Ella Agee recorded her 1000th career assist for Colonel Crawford.

The second set was much more competitive. Though the Lady Red only led once, at 5-4, the score was still as close as 23-20 before the Lady Eagles closed it out for the 2-0 advantage.

“I thought we dialed in when we needed to and they did what they had to, what we’ve been preaching all season,” Valentine said.

“We blocked very well, I thought, tonight,” Valentine added. “Offensively, we were able to put some power on some ball and put some things away.”

Freshman Reese Redman had 14 kills for Colonel Crawford. Parr had 13 digs and six kills, Gray had 12 digs, and Alex Voll added nine digs.

“The Voll girl plays outstanding defense. They made her libero the last game we played them,” Christy said. “She did a great job then. All their players played pretty well. Reese (Redman) is a great player. Parr can play the game, too.”

Tori Stang had 14 kills to lead Bucyrus and Reese Garvin had 10 digs.

“I thought we played a great game and offensively looked the part (of sectional winners),” Valentine said. “We’re still working on some things defensively, still trying to cover some spots.”

As to the Colonel Crawford runs that took their toll on the Lady Red, the coach explained.

“When we get stuck in certain rotations, we’re stuck,” Christy said. “We aren’t fortunate enough to have 15 kids sitting on our bench. I have just enough hitters to play the front row. I have to play passers in the front row when my hitters aren’t available.”

Christy had to say an emotional goodbye to her only senior, Haylee Startton.

“We’re losing Haylee and Haylee was a fantastic leader for us, one of the best leaders we’ve had,” Christy said. “But, losing only one senior, hopefully these girls can get a little more volleyball smart, and it will make a world of difference.”

The Eagles move on to the district tournament where they will meet No. 6 South Central — a 3-1 winner over Seneca East — on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Shelby,

“Our setter had her 1000th assist tonight,” Valentine said. “That was nice. Lots of good things were happening. It’s fun to celebrate.”