By RICHIE HALL
Sectional 8 volleyball began Thursday at The Mill in Noblesville with victories by Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern.
The Tigers beat the host Millers in four sets, 19-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-18 in the evening’s first match. After that, the Royals swept Westfield 25-18, 25-19, 25-17. Both teams advance to the Saturday morning semi-finals, where Fishers takes on Carmel and Southeastern will play Zionsville.
Before they could think about Saturday morning, the Tigers had to get past Noblesville, which took the first set of the opening match. The Millers jumped ahead 20-15 after senior Lexie Almodovar hit a kill, then Noblesville held on during a back-and-forth last part of the set. Rose Crist hit a kill to secure the set.
The second set was close until the Tigers went on a 5-0 run to jump ahead 22-15. Grace Dunnuck and Mikayla Christiansen both hit kills, Emily Brewer and Grace Dunnuck combined for a block, Emily Waldrop also had a successful block and Bryn Roberts served an ace. Fishers won the last two points to take the set and level the match.
The Tigers dominated the first part of the third set, leading 6-2, then 9-3, then 15-7. Jada Allen hit back-to-back kills early in the set, Emily Brewer served back-to-back aces, and Christiansen put down two more kills.
But Noblesville began working its way back into the match. The teams went back-and-forth for several points, and eventually Allen hit a kill to put Fishers up 24-18, giving the Tigers multiple set points. The Millers then won five straight points before Fishers finally got the set at 25-23. Almodovar hit two kills and Bella Hines hit an ace during Noblesville’s run.
The Millers then jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the fourth set, scoring six straight points after begin down 5-4. Rose Crist hit a kill and Ella Peter served an ace.
But Christiansen nailed back-to-back kills, and that started a string of 10 straight points for the Tigers. Shelby Settles later hit an ace to put Fishers ahead 17-11. Noblesville made one more run to get within 17-14, but Ava Vickers ended that with a kill, and the Tigers cruised from there.
“Certainly sets two, three and four, even when they went on a run, we were doing things in the game plan, while also keeping our eyes open for obvious things that we could take advantage of in the blink of an eye,” said Fishers coach Steven Peek.
Christiansen and Allen both had 12 kills, with Waldrop putting down 10. Dunnuck and Vickers each hit seven kills. Brewer handed out 48 assists and served three aces for the Tigers, who are now 14-13.
On defense, Perdue collected 14 digs and Settles had six digs. Allen made six blocks, Dunnuck had four and Christiansen had three.
“We were prepared, we worked hard all week, we knew what they were going to do,” said Noblesville coach Jill Almodovar. “The only switch on that was they put Jada on the outside, which I wasn’t expecting. But we were prepared and the kid were as ready as they were going to be. So I think they gave it their very best and it just wasn’t enough.”
Lexie Almodovar finished her sensational career as a Miller with 16 kills. Crist added nine kills for the Millers, who finished 11-21.
In the second match, Westfield played well against Southeastern, but the Royals found a way to pull ahead in the later stages of each set. Southeastern led 14-9 early in the fifth set, with Abby Weber hitting a kill and Carly Mills serving an ace.
The Shamrocks went on their own run to pull within 14-13, including a kill and a block from Anna Johnsey. But the Royals would eventually take control of the set, and Weber finished it with a kill.
The second set followed the same script. Westfield had it tied at 15-15, but Southeastern used a 7-1 run to go ahead 22-16, then ran out the set. Weber hit another kill to get the Royals ahead by that six-point margin. Weber then put a tip over the net on set point that landed on the line and gave Southeastern a two-set lead.
The Royals dominated the early part of the third set, at one point leading 11-4. Delaney Garner hit four kills during that run. Westfield stormed back, getting within 16-14. Kenzie Daffinee put down three kills during the middle part of the set. But Abby Weber hit kill to start a 4-0 run for Southeastern, and the Royals had control of the set. Emily Weber ended the match with a kill.
“Having to play them three times is not easy,” said Southeastern coach Jason Young. “And they’ve gotten better every single time that we’ve seen them. “We knew they’d be very, very prepared against us. I think at about 15-all, it seemed like every set was like 15-all, was the turning point where we just turned it up. Obviously grateful to get the win today.”
Abby Weber hit 15 kills for the Royals, who are now 24-4, with Grace Hunter putting down seven kills. Emily Weber handed out 20 assists. Everybody had a hand in Southeastern’s defense: Hunter had 17 digs, followed by Mills with 13, Kyla Berg with 11, Lillian Leiner with 10 and Abby Weber with nine. Maddie Cole made 3.5 blocks.
Daffinee had 11 kills for the Shamrocks, followed by Johnsey with eight. Grace Stewart served three aces, while Logan Mapes dished out 24 assists. Peighton Isley had 17 digs and Ellary Detamore collected 15 digs. Jonsey had four blocks, and Mairin McAndrews had three. Westfield finished its season 21-11.
“We had a good scout on HSE, and they ran what we expected them to,” said Shamrocks coach Sandra Burks. “It was one of our goals to get hands on the slide so they’d be forced to run something else. We were able to put pressure where we wanted to, but HSE deserves credit for running their offense well. We have a lot of players returning next year and have nothing but good things to look forward to.”
Hamilton Southeastern’s Kyla Berg makes a bump during the Royals’ sectional volleyball match with Westfield Thursday at Noblesville. Berg had 11 digs for Southeastern, one of many good defensive performances in the Royals’ win. (Kirk Green)
Fishers’ Mikayla Christiansen (12) makes a block for the Tigers during their match with Noblesville. Fishers overcame the loss of the first set to win in four sets. (Kent Graham)