Centralia was playing its best volleyball of the season heading into districts.

Centralia vs Blair Oaks Photo Gallery

The Lady Panthers’ final match of the season on Wednesday in the Class 3 District 7 tournament in Centralia trended that way until Blair Oaks went on a run from the close of the third set to the fourth set to give Centralia a four-set loss (19-25, 25-22, 19-25 and 13-25). The three-time reigning state champion Blair Oaks closed the third set with a 7-0 and started the fourth with a 10-1 run.

Centralia (13-18) came back to take a 19-18 lead in the third set, thanks partly to a kill and service ace from Ryenn Gordon. The sophomore finished with 19 kills, but Gabby Horn then stepped up for Blair Oaks (15-18) on the serve during that crucial 7-0 run that included two aces from her. Head coach Julie Crum said Centralia wasn’t “discouraged by a gap in points” during Wednesday’s match or during a 7-3 stretch to close the season, 

“We had trouble sometimes getting the ball where it needed to go,” Crum said. “There is no denying that when Ryenn is in the front row, that’s where we get a lot of points. I tell them they do fantastic things, we just don’t string the fantastic things together enough.”

Crum said it is hard to “get the ball rolling” again after missing five straight points or more and especially when Blair Oaks was placing its kills where the Lady Panthers weren’t. The ball was weaving around blockers and between defenders into the back row to combine with 16 aces earned by the Lady Falcons.

“We really struggle with that outside block because we don’t have a right front,” Crum said. “Caris (Finlay) is our only setter so she has to play the front row. When she’s in the front row, we only have a single blocker that is traveling from the middle. Tonight’s the only night that has proven super challenging for us, and we couldn’t recover from that.”

Finlay had another busy night with 25 assists. That is typically a good number but is low compared to the record-breaking numbers the senior has recorded this season. On three separate occasions, Finlay broke her school single-match record until she finished with 42 assists in a loss against California. 

Setting wasn’t the extent of her contributions against Blair Oaks. During Centralia’s winning second set, the Lady Panthers went on a 6-0 in the middle of the set that contained a Finley desperation dig that arced onto Blair Oaks’ side of the net. She then put down an ace and a kill.

“She can serve the ball well, she places it well and she sets exceptionally well,” Crum said. “I mean, she’s 4-11 so she really gets the ball to where it needs to go. She plays outstanding defense as some of the digs I’ve seen her pick up are incredible.”

Finlay’s “beautifully placed” ball helps Gordon float in the air and swing down on the ball over the blockers. Gordon broke the school single-match record with 27 kills during a match this season and obliterated the single-season kill record by more than 100 — was 220 and is now 366.

Senior Addison Mabrey began that key run in the second set with a kill and a block and proved to be Centralia's most valuable blocker this season.

“She is a tall middle that loves playing the back row when she serves,” Crum said. “I have complete faith in her when she takes that spot where the libero normally is, and she plays it well.”

Lexi England is typically at that libero spot and is another senior that made great digs against Blair Oaks and many more during the season, Crum said. England is able to make “a perfectly executed pass” to Finlay to set up an attack. 

Centralia finishes this season with double-digit wins for the fifth straight year despite losing its first nine matches. The Lady Panthers won only two sets during that stretch to begin the season but were hot during October, securing the Eastern Missouri Conference championship in their first back in the conference since 2019 and then winning the Eugene Invitational. Even though Madilynn Hunter didn’t contact the ball as well on her attacks against Blair Oaks, Crum said “her swing was the hardest I’ve ever seen” against Eugene in the tournament as Hunter finished with 11 kills and 17 digs. 

“They surprised me every single week, and then in October, they really turned it on,” Crum said. “I cannot explain how proud I am of the development that they had together. They are super fun to watch. When they are on it, they are on it and no one’s going to stop them.”

Crum said Centralia’s final day of the season was about 147 days after it started preparing for the season at the end of May. She said the Lady Panthers improved every single week. An example would be the nine aces they had against Blair Oaks after some struggles with serving this season, satisfying Crum’s goal of having more aces than missed serves.

“That’s what I enjoy the most is watching how hard they work together at the end of the season,” Crum said. “Usually, some teams are kind of falling apart.”