The Carmi-White County Lady Bulldogs hosted Mt. Carmel at McDougal-Evers Gymnasium on Thursday for the IHSA 2A Regional Championship, and the home fans in attendance were witnesses to another historic night in CWC athletics.
The Lady Bulldogs were given the number 1 seed in their subsectional, making them the team to beat in their home regional. Mt. Carmel was the 4 seed, and after an impressive semifinal win over Hamilton County, it was apparent Carmi had their work cut out for them.
CWC came out of the gates on fire, jumping out to a 9-2 lead in the first set behind aces from Riley Roark and Jaya Smith, and kills from Ashlyn Rager, Lauren Burzynski, and Caroline Simmons. That hot start ended up being the difference in Set 1, as the Lady Aces were able to find their groove and battle back, getting as close as four at 19-15. The Lady Bulldogs however were able to take care of business and finish the first set on a 6-2 run, taking it 25-17.
Mt. Carmel were the ones who started off on the right foot in Set 2, jumping out to an early 4-2 lead, but Jaya Smith began to heat up for the Lady Bulldogs. Carmi went on a 9-1 run, forcing Mt. Carmel to use a timeout with the score 11-5.
The Lady Bulldogs continued to set up Smith in Set 2, and Mt. Carmel simply didn’t have an answer. Doing most of that setting was senior Lauren Burzynski, she entered the night just 23 assists away from 2,000 for her career. With another assist to Smith to push the Lady Bulldogs lead to 14-7, Burzynski collected that 2,000th assist, becoming the first Lady Bulldog to ever do so.
Carmi won the race to 20 in the 2nd Set, leading 20-10 they could smell the regional title, but Mt. Carmel continued to fight. The Lady Aces were able to trim that Lady Bulldog lead to 24-16, but one final Burzynski to Smith kill sealed the deal. Carmi won set two 25-16, and won the match in 2 sets, winning their 2nd consecutive regional championship and 3rd in the last 4 years.
“Winning tournaments, and winning regionals never gets old,” said head coach Chris Lucas. “I’m glad we’ve finally gotten to where we expect to be in these big games and win these big games.”
Since Chris Lucas took over as head coach of the Carmi-White County Volleyball team in 2020, the culture has changed. A team that hadn’t won a regional championship in 44 years, has now won 3 in the last 4 years.
The Lady Bulldogs move on to the Fairfield Sectional, where they will face Massac County in the sectional semifinals next Tuesday at 7 PM. If they win, they will play for the Sectional Championship next Thursday.
