Dublin — Dublin Jerome head coach Andrea Baylin admits she’s probably earned a few gray hairs from the season her Lady Celtics have put together. As she puts it, that’s just the way this team is.
“It used to bother me that we couldn’t put things together quickly,” Baylin said. “I’ve realized this is just how this team is. It’s exhausting for me, but really cool to watch.”
That resilient style of play, battling through tough stretches and finding ways to respond, has carried Jerome back to the top of the Ohio Capital Conference’s Cardinal Division. With Thursday’s win over Olentangy Berlin, the Celtics clinched a conference title for the third time in four years.
It took a fourth-set comeback with their backs against the wall, and for the second time this season, Jerome outlasted a tough Berlin squad in five sets.
For Baylin, the growth of this group has been just as important as the wins. That, she says, has been key against tough opponents like Berlin.
“I have kids who want to learn and increase their volleyball IQ,” Baylin said. “Berlin is a tough team that I don’t want to see in the tournament. We had a scouting report, but we ultimately focused on our own side and executing our jobs.”
Jerome opened strong, setting the tone in the first set with stout defense and an aggressive start that put Berlin on its heels. The Lady Celtics kept control throughout and closed out a 25–19 win to take the opening set.
Berlin answered back with steadier play, sharper execution, and growing momentum, taking the next two sets 25–19 and 25–18. By late in the fourth, the Bears looked poised to close out a four-set victory and pull even with the Lady Celtics in the conference race.
Even with their backs against the wall and facing defeat, Jerome never looked rattled, a mindset Baylin ties back to the team’s philosophy of “love tough.”
“These are really a tough group of individuals and no matter what happens, we love each other through it,” she said. “We are gritty, dirty, and nasty, and just get the job done.”
Down four points late in the fourth, the Lady Celtics stormed back to overtake Berlin and force a decisive fifth set, the second time this season the teams had gone the distance.
With momentum on their side, Jerome seized control of the finale, jumping ahead early and never looking back. The Lady Celtics closed out their second comeback win of the season over Berlin with a 15–7 fifth-set victory, and in doing so, clinched the OCC Championship.
The victory marked Jerome’s fifth five-set win of the season, their third comeback victory, and kept them unbeaten in matches that go the distance.
Senior Mackenzie Palumbo led Jerome with 23 kills, while Madison Knox added 10 more. Rian Srickland contributed 11 blocks, Audrey Taylor (24) and Maya Bleeks (26) paced the team in digs, and Taylor also tallied 37 assists in the victory.
With the conference title secured, Baylin points out that Jerome now has a chance to achieve something unprecedented: going unbeaten in the OCC. She acknowledges, however, that it will be no easy feat, especially with tough matchups against Olentangy and Thomas Worthington still on the schedule.
“Olentangy and Thomas are no slouches, they are clicking at the right time and winning games,” Baylin said. “Hopefully winning it takes some pressure off our girls, but you have to virtually be undefeated to this point to win a conference title in our division. We’ve never went undefeated, but hopefully now our girls can play and just have fun.”
Dublin Jerome (14-2, 8-0 in OCC) visit Newark on Saturday before closing out OCC-Cardinal action with Olentangy and Thomas Worthington next week.
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