by DAYTON, Ohio—The Gilmour Lancers gave coach Danny Coughlin a special going away present Friday, winning the Division III state volleyball championship in the final match of Coughlin’s 10-year career.
Playing in a state final for the fifth consecutive season, the Lancers had four players reach double figures in kills with setter Ella Jackson recording 53 assists, helping Gilmour take down Cincinnati Ursuline Academy in the Division III championship match at Wright State University, 25-20, 25-22, 28-30, 25-22.
Gilmour’s senior class—there are 11 seniors on the roster—played in a state final all four years, winning in 2021 and this year. The Lancers also won state titles in 2020 and 2015 under Coughlin’s tutelage.
“I’m extremely happy how we finished off,” Coughlin said. “And I’m glad the trophy’s coming back with us. These seniors came in as champions. Now they’re going out as champions.”
Kayla Channell led the way with 20 kills and Aubrey Anders added 19. Also in double figures were Kyla Williams with 11 and Marlie Davis with 10. Since the sport has expanded this year from four divisions to seven, it is unknown how the OHSAA is going to handle the record book. But the old Division III record for assists in a four-set match was 52, one less than Jackson had in the championship match.
“Our group, we’ve definitely matured so much,” said Jackson. “I trust every single one of them. Even the underclassmen are so mature that I can do whatever I need to.”
The Lancers came out strong in the first set, committing only two hitting errors while finishing 16 kills. The second appeared to be more of the same with Gilmour jumping to a 19-10 lead, but Ursuline battled back to tie the match at 22. However, after a timeout, the Lancers rattled off the last three points of the set.
The third set was a tight battle, as both teams had chances to win once the score topped 25. The Lancers had three match points late in the set but couldn’t close the deal, making Coughlin wonder just how the fourth set would go.
“We did kind of stumble a little bit in set three,” he said. “We had to remind them that the job’s not done yet. My concern was will we have enough effort and energy, or did we waste it all in set three going into that fourth? Well, the girls proved me unbelievably wrong, and they went out there and took care of business.”
Gilmour jumped to a 16-10 lead in the fourth set but couldn’t maintain the margin, as the Lions forced a tie at 22. Just as in the second set, the Lancers scored the final three points of the set—and the match—with Channell getting a kill followed by a Davis kill and an ace by Mi-Na Diggs, Gilmour’s 11th of the match.
After winning the state title as freshmen and then finishing second the next two years, the Gilmour seniors definitely felt pressure to get back to the top of the mountain.
“I definitely think we were frustrated the past two years because we lost, and it only made us stronger,” libero Brie Habeeb said. “Our sophomore year and our junior year, we would always say after we lost, ‘We always have next year.’ This year, obviously, we can’t say that, and we’re the 11 seniors who just fought and we wanted it so bad. And we went on the court, and we took what’s ours.”
