Webster, who won it again ….

Webster, who won it again this year, got a three-set challenge from the Pirates but held them off 25-14, 18-25, 1511. Gilman also went to three sets in its final pool match, winning it over Alma Center Lincoln 23-25, 25-14, 15-9.

On the offensive side of things, Mann led Gilman with 30 kills in the tournament, Drier had 17, Chaplinski had 11 and Orth had a solid day with nine. Chaplinski had 64 assists and led the Pirates with seven aces. James had four, Mann and Drier had three each and Kenlyn Kroeplin had two.

Orth was a presence at the net defensively, piling up nine block kills. Mann had five, Drier had three and Hendricks added two. Chaplinski and James had 35 and 34 digs, respectively. Mann had 29, Kroeplin had 13 and Hendricks had 10.

Webster beat Cornell and Lincoln 2-0 in pool play and the finished off the tournament with a 2-0 sweep of Phillips, who went 3-0 in the other pool.

Columbus 3, Gilman 0

The Pirates had some stretches of excellent saving and digging Thursday, but Columbus Catholic’s relentless offensive attack was just too much to handle in a 3-0 sweep that clinched yet another outright Eastern Cloverbelt Conference championship for the Lady Dons.

The title is the seventh straight for Columbus, with six of them being outright. The exception is a 2019 shared title with Gilman.

Gilman finished 4-3 in league play, good for third place behind Colby (6-1). There was a three-way for fourth at 3-4 between Loyal, Neillsville and Spencer.

Gilman gave the Dons a good run in the first set. A Kroeplin ace made it 12-10, then the Pirates shrunk a five-point deficit to 21-20 with James getting an ace and Bryn Hendricks getting a kill along with help from some Columbus miscues. It was 23-22 when the Dons got the last two points, with the final one coming on a Courtney Sommer kill, to win it 25-22.

Game two was close for awhile. Drier had a kill and an ace and Mann hit a winner off a Dons’ blocker for a quick 4-2 Gilman lead. Later, Jaylen Copenhaver served an ace and Drier pounded a big kill to keep the Pirates within 12-10. But that was where Columbus began to pull away and Gilman never regained any momentum the rest of the way.

Sommer had a rightside kill and an ace, then the Dons’ 6-foot standout middle Aaliyah Krenn buried four kills to help her team secure a 25-13 win.

Gilman fell behind 6-1 in game three, then went on a little three-point run. Drier got a deflection off a block, Chaplinski’s roll found a hole and Hendricks tooled a block. Drier’s bump dropped for a point to make it 7-5, then the set just got away from Gilman. An 18-3 run for Columbus ended it at 25-8.

Drier was the kill leader with five. Orth and Hendricks had three each. Chaplinski had 12 assists and two aces. James had eight digs, while Chaplinski and Drier had seven each.