Girls Volleyball: Shekinah Christian comes together to win first district title in 10 years
Sunday, October 29, 2023
By Michael Rich
mrich@cbussports.com
Coach Colleen Showalter said her Shekinah Christian girls volleyball team is not the same as it was earlier this month when Delaware Christian beat the Flames in straight sets.
The Flames coming together at the right time was evident in a 25-23, 25-22, 25-13 win over the Eagles in a Division IV district championship match on Oct. 28 at Central Crossing.
The title is the first for Shekinah Christian since 2013 and sixth overall.
“We’ve been through a lot this season as a team and faced a lot of adversity,” Showalter said. “I’m so proud of them for pushing through. I thought it would be a long, grueling match. But we’re a better team than we were anytime we’ve played (Delaware Christian) earlier this season.”
The third-seeded Flames (22-3) had a meeting not long after that loss to the Eagles that proved to be the catalyst for bringing the team together. Since then, Shekinah has rolled off eight consecutive victories.
Shekinah Christian’s Hailey Campagna eyes the ball during the Flames’ win over Delaware Christian on Oct. 28 at Central Crossing. Photo: John Hulkenberg
“We’ve grown so much as a team this year,” said freshman setter Eleyna Beachy, who had 41 assists in the win over top-seeded Delaware Christian. “We sat down and had a conversation and we were able to say that we love each other. I think we were playing selfishly. When we turned to God, that’s when we were able to play as a team because God wants us to love each other.”
Senior outside hitter Hailey Campagna, a Mississippi State recruit, proved to be difficult to stop, going for 29 kills to lead the Flames.
The Eagles (23-3) went after Campagna for much of the contest. But she was up for the task with 36 digs and 25 serve receives. Campagna added three aces.
“There were some miscommunications and some drama on the team,” Campagna said. “After that meeting, we wanted to (put) things out in the open so we could actually bond and have good team chemistry. We wanted to be really honest with each other because we all wanted the same outcome. We have to be a good team to get there, so that meeting really helped.”
Delaware Christian beat the Flames 25-22, 25-17, 26-24 on Oct. 5 in Delaware. The Shekinah Christian beat the Eagles 18-25, 25-21, 25-15, 15-25, 15-10 on Sept. 12 in Plain City and the two shared the MOCAL championship.
Delaware Christian’s Bekah Williams hits the ball against Shekinah Christian on Oct. 28. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Nava Showalter added 10 kills and 15 digs, Taylor Helmuth had four blocks and three aces and Haylee Beach had 11 digs for the Flames, who play Waterford on Nov. 2 at Pickerington North in a regional semifinal.
Shekinah Christian has only made the state tournament once in 1995.
“It feels wonderful,” Campagna said. “It’s been 10 years since we won districts, so that’s really big for a tiny school like Shekinah.”
The biggest adjustment for the Eagles this season was moving Kyra Lansford from outside to hitter to setter because of a foot injury to Jasmine Proper.
Lansford finished with 19 assists against the Flames in the district final to back Bekah Williams with 13 kills.
“(Lansford) did a phenomenal job,” Delaware Christian coach Jackie Boggs said. “She just had a really super season for being an outside hitter and defensive specialist her whole life.”
Ellie Tiede had 17 digs, Payton Eversole had 14, Williams had 13 and Katie Hobbs added 10.
The Eagles finished as district runner-up for the third time since winning their only title in 2016. They hadn’t played for a championship since 2019.
“We were really off and probably too emotionally hyped up for this (match),” Boggs said. “This was really important and I think their emotions were not a good thing today. It was really us making errors that we typically don’t make and that didn’t help. It’s still a great season.”