By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – With this season being only the second season of the IHSAA-sanctioned boys volleyball tournament, Carmel coach Andrew Fuller said it best: “Sectional means a little more than it used to.”
The sanctioning of boys volleyball gave several schools such as Carmel – which has won a sectional championship in every other sport – a chance to have that feeling of a first-ever title. The Greyhounds did just that on Saturday, May 16, claiming its first-ever championship with a hard-fought sweep of Westfield in the finals.
The set scores were 27-25, 25-19, 25-21.
The Shamrocks came out ready to play, and in fact held a 10-5 lead in the first set. Junior Aidyn Kuzma hit a couple kills during the early part of the set and Xavier Lyon hit two aces.
Carmel soon came back to tie the set at 12-12, then won the next point with a block by junior Jack Kovac, which would be a familiar theme throughout the match.
“Jack’s blocks are insane,” said Greyhounds sophomore Eli Philistin-Lynch. “It’s very hard for teams to compete with his blocks because he’s getting so high up. I think once he continues to grow, has more experience with the sport, he’s going to be amazing.”
Philistin-Lynch played amazing as well, with several kills during the first set. That helped Carmel overcome a back-and-forth battle at the end of the first set. The Rocks saved two set points and tied the score at 25-25 before Philistin-Lynch made a kill to give the Hounds a third set point, which they won to secure the set.
The second set was tied at 6-6 before Carmel made a four-point run to take a 10-6 lead. Sophomore Dylan Kaiser served an ace while classmate Ian Czarnecki put down a kill. The Greyhounds steadily increased their lead throughout the set, with Thomas Kuehl spiking a kill to put his team up 23-15. Carmel had the set a couple minutes later.
The Hounds led 7-4 in the third set; Philistin-Lynch hit three kills during that early time. Westfield rolled back to hold a 18-16 lead, with sophomore Simon Falvey putting down two kills and junior Eric Keller serving an ace.
But Czarnecki hit a kill to start a three-point run, then Kovac later made another block to put the Greyhounds ahead 21-19. Carmel won the last three points; Philistin-Lynch made the kill on championship point.
Philistin-Lynch made 19 kills and cleared the 500-kill mark for his career during the tournament. Kuehl put down 17 kills.
“Thomas and Eli were a duo that was incredible to watch all weekend,” said Fuller. “We don’t win this championship without Eli and Thomas.”
Kaiser served three aces and Kovac finished with three blocks. Senior Shepard Spidel dished out 41 assists.
Carmel’s defense was also solid, with 61 total digs. Senior Brice Hagaman led with 13 digs, while Spidel collected 10.
Kuzma led Westfield’s offense with 15 kills, while senior Graham France put down 11 kills. Senior Stevie Alvarez scooped up 14 digs and Lyons made 10 digs to go with his 31 assists.
Westfield finished the season 16-11 with a very young team. Shamrocks coach Patrick McAndrews said that France was “the only returning starter from this team from last year,” calling him the glue to the team.
“We lost 11 seniors last year, so with only one returning starter, we basically played our whole JV team last year and a couple newcomers,” said McAndrews. “I liked how our younger guys stepped up and learned how to compete and learned how to play some new positions, and I’m excited for the future.”
Carmel is 26-6 and plays at the Peru regional this Saturday. The Greyhounds take on Fort Wayne Carroll in a noon semifinal match. Zionsville and Homestead play the first semifinal at 10 a.m.; the semifinal winners play for the championship at 7 p.m.
In semifinal matches, Westfield swept Noblesville 25-15, 25-15, 25-18, while Carmel overcame Fishers in four sets, 20-25, 25-13, 25-8, 25-19.
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