Westfield picks up 10th win, Carmel plays solid while navigating tough schedule
By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – Two Hamilton County boys volleyball teams met at the Eric Clark Activity Center on Wednesday. Both have plenty of potential.
Westfield traveled to Carmel for a match that the Shamrocks won in straight sets, 25-23, 25-18, 25-23. It was a tough sweep, as the Greyhounds fought back to lead 23-22 in the third set before Westfield took the final three points.
Both teams have new coaches. The ‘Rocks are supervised by Pat McAndrews, who said his team is “off to a really good start.” He’s not kidding: Westfield is 10-2 for the season.
“We’ve got a young group with only one senior and lots of juniors and lots of first-year varsity players,” said McAndrews. “To come out with a hot start’s been really exciting. They’ve bought into what we’re trying to do.”
All but two players on the Shamrocks’ varsity roster are juniors. That includes outside hitter Carlo Huisden, who did a little bit of everything during the match. Huisden hit 15 kills and two aces, made 10 digs and had four blocks.
“Carlo is definitely one of our leaders,” said McAndrews. “As a leader, he brings a lot of emotion and energy. Just a great leader. Hard worker and just a very dynamic player.”
McAndrews said his team’s middle backs, the junior trio of Nick Gerow, Max Hammond and Fletcher Farrar are “doing a good job.” Gerow had three blocks for Westfield with Hammond making two blocks.
Setter Graham Weddige dished out 33 assists and also collected 11 digs. Dominic Parisi, the team’s lone senior, served two aces and CJ Fox hit nine kills.
As for defense, libero Chase Graff led the digs with 13. McAndrews said that Graff is one of the leaders in the state in that category.
“He’s a tough kid, goes for every ball, wants every ball,” said McAndrews. “He’s been a good leader for us as well.”
Westfield’s victories included two big early-season wins over Hamilton Southeastern, which was ranked No. 2 at the time, and Brebeuf Jesuit, which held the No. 1 ranking at that time.
“Those early wins really helped propel our confidence and helped us start out playing well,” said McAndrews.
The Shamrocks beat Avon Tuesday in another sweep, 25-13, 25-16, 25-17. Parisi hit 16 kills, followed by Huidsen with nine, Fox with seven and Gerow with five. Farrar and Gerow combined for six blocks. Graff, Kyle Kujawa and Huidsen led the back row defense with solid passing.
Westfield hosts Zionsville on Tuesday.
Rebuilding year
The Carmel team is being coached by a Greyhounds graduate. Andrew Fuller was part of Carmel’s first two boys volleyball state championship teams in 2011 and 2012. He started the boys volleyball program at Guerin Catholic several years ago before returning to his alma mater.
“It’s a huge rebuild here at Carmel,” said Fuller. The coach said he is “really proud of our defense. That’s our identity. It’s worked well for us all season and if we can figure out our offense, I think we’ll get going in the right direction.”
Fuller said the team graduated “a handful of seniors last year, that heavy experience. We had to find a way to completely redirect the program.”
This year’s seniors are stepping up. Xavier Clawson hit six kills, while Nick Wold made six digs. Junior Griffin Holdcraft had 13 digs and two aces. Sophomore Shep Spidel dished out 23 assists.
“My first day at open gyms, I took Shep because he’s our most athletic kid,” said Fuller. “He’s a sophomore and we’re training him from the ground up as a setter.”
“We’re in a huge rebuild, putting a lot of trust in younger kids,” said Fuller. “It’s just what we expected. I think we’re closer than we thought we’d be. We’re playing better volleyball than I thought we’d be. But we’re definitely doing some really nice things.”
Carmel is 3-13 for the season, with wins over Park Tudor, Guerin Catholic and McCutcheon. Fuller said that according to the Z-rating and MaxPreps, the ‘Hounds have played the third-hardest schedule in the state. That included No. 1 Cathedral, whom Carmel took all the way to a fifth set before losing by a close 15-12 score.
“We’ve played nothing but top 10 teams,” said Fuller. “We’ve been right there with them. We just haven’t been able to close out yet.”
The Greyhounds host Brownsburg tonight.