By RICHIE HALL
The first round Sectional 8 volleyball matches at Westfield on Thursday saw two dominating performances by the winning teams.
Fishers won the opener, avenging a Mudsock loss to Hamilton Southeastern 25-23, 25-13, 25-16. In the second match, Carmel cruised past Anderson 25-4, 25-6, 25-8. Both teams advance to the Saturday morning semi-finals, where the Tigers take on the host Shamrocks, while the Greyhounds play Noblesville.
Fishers played the Royals back on Sept. 6 in the Mudsock match, and the Royals won that one in a sweep. That result did not sit well with the Tigers, and they began preparing for Thursday’s sectional match last week.
“We just drilled stuff all week long and really used the last week as a setup for tonight, of course, even though we had two opponents,” said Fishers coach Steven Peek. “And I’m just so proud of them for the work they put in, because it’s not easy. We ask a lot of them. They care a lot, but we ask a lot of them. For them to have been so willing to accept the coaching that they were given is one of the reasons why they were so confident, I think, because they trusted that they had worked hard to get it.”
The Tigers (22-4) had control of the first set, at one point leading 16-11. Fishers continued to hold its lead in the set thanks to some incredible hitting, including four kills by Jada Allen in the latter stages of the set. The Tigers led 22-17 before the Royals made a run, with Maddie Cole and Taylor Shelton both putting down kills. But Fishers hung on to win the set by two points.
In the second set, the Tigers jumped on top early, scoring five straight points to go ahead 7-2. Audrey Haworth, Camryn Haworth and Haley Soper all hit a kill during that run, and Rose Duffy served an ace.
“This team is different than any of the teams I’ve been on the past four years,” said Duffy. “We’re never satisfied. Our slogan of the year is ‘Never settle.’ We didn’t come here to win one game. We came here to win sectionals and continue after that.”
Fishers then went on another run late in the set, with seven unanswered points to lead 20-10. Both Haworths hit two kills, and Duffy served another ace. Fishers then finished the set with four straight points; Bryn Roberts hit two kills, including one on set point.
“When we’re in system like that, it’s like a cheat code,” said Peek. “We’ve just got thoroughbreds out there and when the back row was able to look themselves in the mirror and really drill some better technique into their minds the last three or four weeks, that helps our thoroughbreds be able to run.”
The Tigers continued the momentum into the third set, scoring the first four points. Fishers steadily built a lead throughout the set, and won the two straight points from 23-16 to take the match.
Duffy had an outstanding game running the Tigers’ offense, dishing out 39 assists. She also had 12 digs on defense, two aces and two blocks.
“This week we’ve been working a lot on different plays and just running the hitters like crazy,” said Duffy. “My middle, No. 7 Jada Allen, she was just on it. She was crazy. It helps a lot having good hitters that I can just trust to put the ball down.”
Audrey Haworth hit 12 kills for Fishers, with Roberts and Allen both putting down nine. Camryn Haworth hit eight kills. As for the defense, Emma Rosenberg had 19 digs, followed by Roberts with 13, Audrey Haworth with 11 and Camryn Haworth with 10.
The Tigers’ blocking was strong, too. Soper totaled five blocks, with Allen making four blocks. Camryn Haworth and Duffy made three blocks, Roberts had two and Audrey Haworth had one.
“They were fantastic,” said Southeastern coach Jason Young. “They were hitting on all cylinders and they were very, very good tonight.”
Delaney Garner hit six kills for the Royals, with Shelton and Grace Hunter both putting down five. Carly Mills collected 16 digs, while Olivia Phillips handed out 26 assists.
“I’m proud of my group,” said Young. “We battled.”
Southeastern finished the season 25-8.
“Proud of the senior group and certainly appreciate all the hard work my coaches have put in through the years,” said Young. “I do appreciate that.”
In the second match, Carmel (24-9) had no trouble with Anderson. The first set win of 25-4 set the tone. Greyhounds coach Reynae Pierce told her team that it would need to stay mentally engaged and ready to play the whole match, and Carmel did just that.
“They played well,” said Pierce. “We took care of business and did what we needed to do.”
Elana Brueggemann hit 10 kills for the ‘Hounds, with Yara Batista putting down four. Lauren Van Remortel handed out 19 assists, while Anne Lesure dished out seven assists and also made four digs.
Sophie Oliphant served seven aces in addition to collecting three digs. Morgan Millay had six digs.
The Fishers volleyball team celebrated after sweeping Hamilton Southeastern in three sets Thursday in the first round of Sectional 8 at Westfield. The Tigers play the host Shamrocks Saturday morning in the first semi-final.
Click here to see more game images. (Kirk Green)