The Noblesville volleyball team soared to the championship at its own invitational on Saturday, then followed that up with a win over a county rival on Tuesday.
The Millers took care of business at the Noblesville Invitational, scoring some huge victories over good teams. First, the Millers beat Western 25-22, 25-17, Jay County 25-10, 23-25, 17-15, then Shelbyville 25-13, 25-10 to advance to the championship match.
In the final, Noblesville beat Western Boone, one of the top teams in the state, 25-17, 22-25, 15-11. Aubrey Stitcher and Ava Harris both hit 10 kills for the Millers. Ava Rundle led a balanced defense with nine digs; six different Noblesville players had at least four digs in the match. Madison Brown handed out 28 assists.
On Tuesday, the Millers won a sweep over Hamilton Heights, 25-16, 25-13, 25-15. With the victory, Noblesville improved to 14-3 for the season.
“We talked about, and we talked about it a lot this season, executing with intensity from the get-go,” said Millers coach Annie Poulson. The coach said the goal of the match was “to have intensity the entire time. We had some pretty good set scores and we also got a lot of people involved. Our bench is super deep this year and we were able to get everybody involved with that same intensity and keep that same pace the whole entire time.”
The Huskies got good play from Kennedy Cherry, who made several saves, and Lauren Lewis, who hit a number of kills and aces in the match.
“I really thought that we stepped up well,” said Heights coach Steve Ward. The coach said his team “played hard. Just came up a little short.”
Noblesville’s Ava Rundle (1) makes a dig during the Millers’ Tuesday win over Hamilton Heights. (Kirk Green)
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Carmel was also a winner of an all-county match this week, beating Westfield 25-15, 25-17, 23-25, 25-17 on Monday.
Lauren Evans led the offense with 14 kills, followed by Emily Waddell with 11, Avery Carroll with eight and Jessica Pickett with seven. Carroll also served seven aces, with Lauren Evans and Peyton Ulrey both hitting two aces. Emerson Evans handed out 38 assists.
Lauren Evans also led the defense with 21 digs, with Lauren Dossey collecting 16 and Emerson Evans getting nine digs. Waddell had five blocks, followed by Carroll with four, Pickett with three and Emerson Evans with two.
Ella Jenkins hit 11 kills for the Shamrocks, with Emma Dodson putting down nine and Chloe Sutake hitting seven. Izzy Jackson handed out 25 assists. Mallory Weber made 24 digs, while Mallory Neale had 19 digs.
Westfield’s Mallory Neale had 19 digs during the Shamrocks’ Monday match with Carmel. (Kirk Green)
Carmel followed up its Monday win by sweeping Lawrence North 25-18, 25-17, 25-19 on Tuesday. Waddell had 12 kills, followed by Lauren Evans with seven, Pickett with five, Carly Christy with three and Kiah Jackson with two.
Lauren Evans and Ulrey both served four aces, and Emerson Evans provided 32 assists. On defense, Lauren Evans and Dossey both had nine digs, with Christy getting six digs. Pickett and Jackson both made nine blocks, with Waddell and Emerson Evans both getting two blocks.
Greyhounds coach Kristine Deem said that every time her team plays Westfield, “we know it’s going to be a battle, we know it’s going to be a high-energy game, so we had to really prepare for it and stay true to what it is that we do well.”
Carmel’s Emerson Evans (10) had a combined 70
assists for the Greyhounds in their two wins this week over Westfield and Lawrence North. (Kirk Green)
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Sheridan dropped two hard-fought matches this week.
On Monday, the Blackhawks fell to Tipton in five sets, 21-25, 21-25, 25-10, 25-9, 15-7. This marked the first time Sheridan had ever taken sets from the Blue Devils.
Senne IJzer hit 17 kills for the ‘Hawks, while Payton Warren and Nova Cross both put down four each. Warren also served two aces and Cross dished out 24 assists. IJzer also led the defense with 22 digs, followed by Jacquellynne Bates with 20, Warren with 15, Meredith Krupp with 10 and Cross with eight. Cross, Warren, IJzer and Lexi Lewin each made one block.
Sheridan fell to Frankfort on Tuesday, 25-19, 25-23, 22-25, 25-11. IJzer hit 12 kills, while Warren spiked a season-high nine kills. Lewin hit five kills and Cross had four and handed out 22 assists. Bates served three aces, while Warren and Cross both hit two. IJzer picked up 22 digs, followed by Cross with 18, Bates with 16, Warren with 13 and Krupp with eight. Warren and Lewin each had a solo block, while Cross and Shelby Eaton each made a block assist.
Sheridan’s Lexi Lewin serves during the Blackhawks’ Tuesday match with Frankfort. (Dwight Casler)