Athens claims first Regional Championship since 1979 defeating Springfield Lutheran

[November 01, 2019]  The Athens Warriors and the Springfield Lutheran Crusaders met for the Regional Championship on Thursday night in Mount Pulaski. After each team defeated local powerhouses Mount Pulaski and Hartsburg-Emden, respectively, in the semifinals, volleyball fans knew this matchup would be a good one.

Lutheran won the first set 25-22, shocking the no. 1 seeded Warriors. But Athens bounced back to take set two 25-22. The Warriors dominated the third set and stormed out to a 12-2 lead before settling the match at 25-14.

Athens was led by Caroline Lendy with 16 kills. Adrien Barrett had 14 kills. McKayla Clark had 2 kills and Lexi Morgan added 1 kill.

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Springfield Lutheran was led by Delaney Scheidenhelm with 11 kills. Erin Borntreger added 9 kills. Makenna Cox had 5 kills and Paige Bergschneider had 1 kill.

Athens will host sectionals next week. The Warriors will face Mendon Unity in game one Monday night at 5:30 p.m.

Athens is coached by Britani Morrison, who was not even born the last time Athens won a regional.

Congratulations to the Warriors!

[Teena Lowery]