A county rivalry volleyball match went Hamilton Southeastern’s way on Thursday, as the visiting Royals beat Westfield in straight sets, 25-19, 25-23, 25-15.
Southeastern had to get through a close second set with the Shamrocks, but were able to take control of the third set. Meredith Phillips led the hitting with 12 kills, and Lark Jones got some timely kills as well.
“I thought our kids did a nice job of closing the door,” said HSE coach Jason Young. “It’s been a focus since last Thursday night, about making sure that we finish when we have a team on the ropes. The kids did a really good job finishing off a team on the road. Westfield, much like us, is a young and talented team, so to get a win in conference is always good.”
Grace Kane collected 17 digs, while Olivia Phillips dished out 33 assists. Taylor Shelton served two aces, with Jones and Zada Anderson both making 1.5 blocks.
As for the Shamrocks, Kinsey McAfee had six kills and 1.5 blocks, with Kenzie Daffinee hitting four aces. Claire Hindman collected seven digs, and Caroline Sinicki handed out 15 assists.
“I was a little disappointed with our play,” said Westfield coach Michelle Mapes-Hewitt. “We struggled in the backcourt playing defense because we couldn’t get a touch on the ball. And we haven’t been playing that way. The last two matches we’ve played well, and tonight our wheels fell off. And that’s a good HSE team. They put it to us tonight.”
The Royals are now 11-7 and will play this Saturday at the Warren Central Invitational. The Shamrocks are 9-10; their next match is Wednesday at Muncie Burris.
Fishers blasted Brownsburg 25-6, 25-19, 25-17 on Thursday, improving to 3-1 in the Hoosier Crossroads Conference.
Mallory Hernandez hit 15 kills for the Tigers, with Audrey Haworth putting down 11. Haley Soper had seven kills and no hitting errors.
Hernandez hit four aces, regularly serving above 40 miles per hour. Rose Duffy hit three aces, with Julia Drozd serving two. Duffy also had 35 assists and 11 digs.
Elizabeth Weeks, Camryn Haworth and Soper all made two blocks in the game.
The Tigers host Pendleton Heights on Monday.
Carmel had a program sweep over Warren Central on Thursday.
The varsity Greyhounds won 25-6, 25-6, 25-12, improving to 3-1 in the Metropolitan Conference and 9-14 overall for the season. Carmel’s junior varsity team swept the Warriors 25-5, 25-6, while the freshmen zoomed to a 25-9, 25-8 win.
The ‘Hounds play their next match Tuesday at North Central.
Noblesville dropped a straight-set match to Zionsville, the No. 1 team in Class 4A, 25-14, 25-17, 25-22 on Thursday.
University fell to Liberty Christian in three sets Thursday, 25-11, 25-17, 25-15.
Hamilton Southeastern’s Lark Jones prepares to serve during the Royals’ volleyball match with Westfield Thursday. (Richie Hall)
Noblesville’s Lexie Almodovar (6) sets up the ball to Emily Kiser during the Millers’ match at Zionsville. For more images, go to
https://capturephotographybydkirk.smugmug.com/NHS-at-Zionsville-G-V-VB/ (Kirk Green)