Tigers power their way to sectional title

By RICHIE HALL
The sensational offense of the Fishers volleyball team gave the Tigers a sectional championship on Saturday.
Fishers beat Noblesville in straight sets, 25-10, 25-13, 25-20, to win Class 4A Sectional 8 at Westfield. It’s the second sectional championship for the Tigers’ volleyball program, with the first coming back in 2010. Fishers will play in the Noblesville regional on Saturday.
“I’m thrilled,” said Tigers coach Steven Peek. The coach said his team has “been just playing their hearts out and practicing hard,” and deserved to win the title.
In the semi-finals, Fishers beat Westfield in four sets, while the Millers held off Carmel in five sets.
Fishers rampaged through the first two sets, getting out to a big lead in the first set. The Millers led 6-4 in the second set, but the Tigers won 12 of the next 14 points to take a 16-8 lead. Audrey Haworth and Camryn Haworth both hit two kills, while Rose Duffy served back-to-back aces. Haley Soper was part of two blocks during the run.
The Tigers made one more run from 18-11, taking seven of the next nine points to win the set. Camryn Haworth served three aces in a row to begin the run, and Audrey Haworth finished the set with a kill.
The third set was tighter. Fishers led 18-14 before Noblesville won six of the next seven points to lead 20-19. Lexie Almodovar had a kill and an ace during the run, with Rose Crist also putting down a kill. But Fishers won the final six points of the match; Jada Allen gave the Tigers match point on a successful block, then hit a kill to finish the match.
Audrey Haworth led the hitting with 14 kills, while Camryn Haworth spiked 12 kills. Allen had seven kills, with Soper hitting three, Bryn Roberts two and Duffy one.
Duffy handed out 32 assists, although Peek noted that “three or four” players had assists as well.
“And a couple others that maybe didn’t get assists because they didn’t get a kill, but they’re setting up their teammates,” said Peek.
The coach said the Tigers have been working on having more people than just Duffy be responsible for creating the swings in the offense. “And then when we start doing that, that’s where our offense looks really, really, really good,” said Peek.
Fishers had 11 aces as a team, with Camryn Haworth serving five. On defense, libero Emma Rosenberg collected 16 digs, with Duffy making seven and Audrey Haworth having four. Allen, Audrey Haworth and Soper all had four blocks, while Camryn Haworth had three.
As for Noblesville, Almodovar put down 10 kills, and also had six digs and one ace. Ava Nichols handed out 20 assists for the Millers, who finished the season 12-23.
“I think a lot of people didn’t expect us to get this far,” said Noblesville coach Steve Hawthorne. “We expended a lot of energy in the Carmel game. Carmel’s a great team. We executed well and took care of business there. We’re still a little bit young. Our nerves really showed in this championship match and we’ll be back here next year.”
The Millers won their semi-final with Carmel 25-23, 25-19, 20-25, 14-25, 15-12. Noblesville led 9-3 and 10-5 in the fifth set before the Greyhounds cut the lead to one point. But the Millers held on for the win.
Almodovar had 19 digs, 17 kills and five aces in that match. Crist put down 13 kills. Nichols handed out 45 assists and made nine digs, while Olivia Gulley had 14 digs. The Greyhounds finished their season 24-10.
In the first semi-final, Fishers came back to win 22-25, 25-12, 25-21, 25-16. Camryn Haworth and Roberts both hit 11 kills, followed by Allen with nine, Audrey Haworth with seven and Soper with six.
The Tigers served 12 aces as a team. Camryn Haworth hit six aces, with Rosenberg and Duffy both serving two, and Audrey Haworth and Jill Snyder each getting one. Duffy handed out 36 assists, and had 15 digs as did Rosenberg. Camryn Haworth and Roberts both collected 12 digs.
Westfield was led on offense by Kinsey McAfee and Kenzie Daffinee, both of whom had nine kills. Katie Sweet put down eight kills. Hillary Muntel and Anna Johnsey each made four blocks, while Sweet had three.
Sarah Weglarz handed out 25 assists. Bailey Mendler had 23 digs, with Peighton Isley collecting 13 and McAfee getting 12. Mendler averaged 2.21 serve receive, while Isley averaged 2.17. The Shamrocks finished their season 19-15.
Fishers is now 24-4 and will take on Zionsville in the second semi-final at the Noblesville regional next Saturday. Yorktown and Fort Wayne Carroll will play the first semi-final.

The Fishers volleyball team won the Class 4A Sectional 8 at Westfield on Saturday. The Tigers beat the host Shamrocks in the semi-finals and Noblesville in the championship, making this the second sectional title in school history for Fishers. (Richie Hall)