Lincoln East’s varsity volleyball team defeated the Columbus Discoverers on September 23, 2025, in East’s main gym after a difficult season. The final score was three to one, with East only losing the first set.

The first set was close, and East was only four points behind, but the Spartans turned their jets on at the beginning of the second set. Scoring point after point, the girls won the next two sets with a whopping 25 to 18, leaving no hope for the Discoverers.

The final set was an obstacle for both sides, but head coach Nicole Gingery kept the team motivated.

“It’s just establishing that standard and establishing that belief that just because you might not be ahead, nothing’s out of reach,” Gingery said. “It’s mentally staying active and mentally staying in a place where you believe in yourself and you believe in the team.”

The final score of 25 to 22 ended the night in East’s favor, even though the team was on edge after their difficult start in the first set. Columbus will need to discover a victory elsewhere.

“Columbus just kept chipping away, and the next thing you know, we’re down by three and it’s 24-21,” Gingery said. “We very easily could have taken an unfortunate set loss and let it fester—and we didn’t.”

Sophomore libero Eva Gutz was determined to do better the next set.

“Our biggest challenge at that point was probably communication and body language,” Gutz said. “We just needed to keep pushing through those moments.”

The Spartans did exactly that—they pushed through the hard moments and got their season wins up to six.

The Lincoln East Spartans and the Columbus Discoverers both played a tough game this September, but East is still hungry for more. Gingery believes that the varsity team can definitely shock some people at districts if they piece some things together and play more consistently.

“Control the controllables,” Gingery said.

Anything can happen between now and districts, so it’s up to the team to put themselves in that position.