The REPORTER
The Noblesville and Guerin Catholic girls volleyball teams met for a scrimmage Thursday, Aug. 14, then swept their first regular-season matches of the season.
The Millers beat North Central in straight sets, 25-17, 25-19, 25-19 to win their season-opener Monday at The Mill. The Golden Eagles traveled to Northwestern on Tuesday, where they cruised to victory 25-3, 25-11, 25-16.
Both coaches spoke to The Reporter after their scrimmages. Guerin Catholic has a new coach, Jennifer Shortenhaus, and she was already happy with her team’s attitude, especially when it came back to win a set during the match.
“They have just really made a commitment this year to play with a ton of unity and passion and I think you saw that tonight,” said Shortenhaus. “We’re also very talented. We have a lot of experienced players, but I really think it’s their decision to pull together and stay together. They’ve committed to that for the whole season.”
The Golden Eagles have several players returning, including “five fantastic seniors,” said Shortenhaus.
Outside hitter Maddie Fritch returns the most kills from last season with 235, while Eleanor Carlisle put down 119 kills. Junior Emery Cardinal hit 150 kills last year.
Catholic should be strong on defense, with three senior liberos: Natalie Laughon (team-leading 260 digs), Juliette Fuhrer (124 digs) and Addie Gruesser (81 digs). Junior Julia Easters brings back the most blocks with 58, while Carlisle had 52 blocks and Cardinal made 40. Laughon served the most aces last year with 49, while Fritch served 42.
Freshman Reese Canada also joins the Golden Eagles as another outside hitter. Shortenhaus said Canada has “made an immediate impact.”
SENIOR MILLERS
Experience will also be a factor for Noblesville, which brings back several seniors.
That list includes Ashlynn Turner, who has the most kills of the returning players with 206 and was the co-leader in blocks last year with 62. Ella Coppock brings back 109 kills.
Other key contributing seniors include outside hitter Kennedy Lutz, along with defensive specialists Miranda Bledsoe and Maggie Hall, who had a team-leading 334 digs. Senior setter Madison Brown dished out 980 assist last season and served a team-leading 50 aces.
Reese Resmer is also back as a senior. She was unable to play last year due to injury.
“Reese has been on varsity since she was a freshman,” said Millers coach Annie Poulson. “It’s nice to have people that have been on varsity for a long time. And a lot of them have been on varsity since they were sophomores, too. It’s good to be able to have that experience and to be able to have that faith in them when it comes down to tight games on varsity.”
Junior Piper Endris collected 261 digs last year. She will be joined by junior Chloe Medley on the defense along with the aforementioned seniors. Junior outsider hitters include Hannah Ray and Lucy McWilliams, while junior Finley Martin is slated for the right side. Freshman Honor Durham joins the team as a setter.
Noblesville plays at Mt. Vernon tonight, while Guerin Catholic hosts New Palestine on Thursday.