The Noblesville volleyball team began its season in exciting fashion, coming back to beat North Central Tuesday night in front of a loud crowd at The Mill.
The Millers dropped the first two sets, and were at times only a few points from defeat in the third and fourth sets. But Noblesville kept fighting and eventually won 24-26, 17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-10.
Millers coach Jill Almodovar admitted that her team was nervous after getting down two sets to none.
“We had lots of people in different positions, we had lots of people in new positions, and I think there were some nerves that played a part in that,” said Almodovar. “And once we got going, we got into a little bit of a groove. We’ve been talking about one point at a time all year. They followed through with that.”
Lexie Almodovar led the offense with 29 kills and 21 digs, while Rose Crist hit 16 kills. Riley Branch handed out 59 assists. Diana Cox, a freshman, collected 16 digs and served aces, with Bella Hines and Abby Johnson also hitting two aces.
The Millers travel to Mount Vernon tonight for a 7 p.m. match.
Hamilton Southeastern opened its season by defeating county rival Carmel in three sets Monday at the Royals’ gym.
Southeastern won a tough match 25-23, 31-29, 25-19. Abby Weber hit 13 kills for the Royals, while Delaney Garner put down 11 kills. Abby Weber also served seven aces. Olivia Phillips dished out 19 assists, while Emily Weber handed out 14 assists. Southeastern’s backcourt of Carly Mills, Lillian Leiner, Kyla Berg and Taylor Lauri also played strong.
“I was proud of the effort in set 2,” said Royals coach Jason Young. “It was an early test and I liked how we responded. Jordan Englemann came in when we were down 17-20 and served us back into the match. I thought it was the turning point of the match.”
Anne Lesure had a solid game for the Greyhounds with 16 assists, 14 kills and eight digs. Maria Zweig had 28 digs and six assists, while Ella Bostic dished out 16 assists along with five digs and one ace.
Gabby Smith hit 11 kills and made one block, while Macarty McQueen put down seven kills to go with five digs, one block and one ace.
Southeastern travels to New Castle today for a 7:30 p.m. match with the defending 3A state champions. Carmel hosts Roncalli at 7 p.m. tonight at the Eric Clark Activity Center.
Hamilton Heights won a hard-fought three-set match with Guerin Catholic Tuesday, 25-21, 25-16, 25-19 at the Huskies’ gym.
Kelsey Smith served well for Heights in all three sets. Katie Mottweiler led the Huskies’ attacking and senior Carlie Ward played well on serve receive.
Smith and Mottweiler are sophomores, and played varsity as freshmen, as did four other sophomores on varsity this year. Heights coach Steve Ward said that with that experience, “they were able to calm down, settle down, get right back into the flow of our offense and get us back in the lead again.”
The Golden Eagles won the junior varsity match 25-9, 25-17.
Westfield fell to defending 4A state champion Yorktown on Monday, 25-15, 25-19, 25-10.
Peighton Isley led the Shamrocks with 12 digs, while Ellary Detamore collected 11 digs. Anna Johnsey hit seven kills.
On Monday, Sheridan dropped a four-set match to Crawfordsville, 19-25, 25-13, 25-7, 26-24. Emma Went served five aces, Abbi Clouser had four digs and Cheyenne Brooks made seven solo blocks. Becca Merritt and Allie Delph both hit four kills, with Delph also handing out four assists.
The Blackhawks’ junior varsity fell to the Athenians 25-12, 25-1. Zoey Fisher and Kaiden Wilson each collected seven digs, while Jacquellynne Bates served two aces.
On Tuesday, Sheridan lost to Clinton Central 25-20, 25-20, 19-25, 25-16. Merritt made eight solo blocks and hit three kills. Delph and Sierra Duke both had five digs, with Delph and Taylor Bates both handing out two assists. Went served two aces.
The Blackhawks junior varsity lost 25-15, 25-22. Kendra Blankenship had two aces, Autumn Hayden made two blocks, Payton Warren had five digs, while Bates dished out four assists. Lexi Lewin, Hayden, Warren, Wilson and Lilly Chesney all hit one kill each.
University opened its season on Monday with a straight set win over Traders Point Christian Academy, 25-17, 25-11, 25-13.
Gillian Monroe and Stella Behforouz led the way for the Trailblazers.
Noblesville’s Lexie Almodovar hit 29 kills for the Millers in their comeback win against North Central Tuesday. (Kirk Green)