Morristown volleyball needed a strong fifth-set performance Thursday night to eliminate Southwestern in the Waldron Sectional quarterfinal round.

After splitting the first four sets, the Yellow Jackets found momentum in the fifth set to pull away for a 21-25, 25-20, 30-32, 25-21, 15-5 win to advance to Saturday’s semifinal round.

Maycee Cole had a team-high 12 kills for the Yellow Jackets. Madison Espich finished with nine kills and Olivia Rude and Zoey Coons each had six.

Espich delivered four service aces. Kindall Dorsey led a solid defensive effort with 25 digs. Setter Katie Theobald finished with 21 assists.

Southwestern closed out its season at 8-19.

On Tuesday, South Decatur (16-7) opened the Waldron Sectional with a 25-12, 25-23, 25-0 win over Edinburgh to set up a Saturday morning semifinal contest with the host Mohawks (5-19). South Decatur swept Waldron in a Mid-Hoosier Conference contest on Sept. 19.

In the other quarterfinal match Thursday, Oldenburg Academy eliminated Jac-Cen-Del, 25-16, 25-15, 22-25, 25-21.

The second semifinal match Saturday at Waldron will pit Morristown (11-19) against Oldenburg Academy (24-7). The Twisters defeated the Yellow Jackets in three sets on Aug. 31.

In other prep events:

Volleyball

Franklin Sectional

In the second quarterfinal match Thursday, Columbus North defeated Shelbyville for the second time this season, 25-16, 25-17, 25-18.

The Bull Dogs improved to 16-12 this season. They defeated the Golden Bears in three sets on Aug. 17.

Columbus North will face Whiteland (18-12) Saturday in one of the sectional semifinal matches.

In the other semifinal, Columbus East (10-21) will take on Franklin (21-8), a 25-5, 25-9, 25-21 winner over East Central Thursday in the first quarterfinal match.

Shelbyville closed out its first season under head coach Sharon Burton with a 2-29 record.

Triton Central Sectional

Two of the top teams in the Indiana Crossroads Conference opened the Class 2A sectional tournament as foes.

The host Tigers won the first set but could not keep Indianapolis Scecina from sweeping the next three sets, 23-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-20 to advance to Saturday’s semifinal round.

Olivia Anglemyer led Scecina with 18 kills and Molly Welborn had 17 kills.

Avery McCoy had a team-high six aces. Isabelle Martinelle delivered 25 digs while setter Natalie Bollenbacher collected 43 assists and 22 digs.

Scecina (21-11) will meet Irvington Prep (13-9) in the second semifinal contest Saturday at Triton Central. In the semifinal opener, Eastern Hancock (19-8) faces Indianapolis Riverside.

Triton Central’s season ended with a 19-10 record.

Tennis Regional

The state singles and doubles tennis tournaments continue Saturday with regional events at four sites around the state.

Shelbyville’s top doubles pairing of Karson Schaf and Aiden Smith, 21-4 this season, will face Scottsburg’s Mayson Cutter and Noah Bagwell (19-2) in the Fishers Regional semifinal round.

The winner of that match will advance into Saturday’s regional championship match against Shenandoah’s Christian Dyer and Cooper Allen (22-1), who received a bye.

The four doubles team regional champions will advance to the State Finals which starts Oct. 20 at Park Tudor High School.

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