By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com
MUNCIE – The Royals got a perfect ending to a perfect season last Saturday night.
The Hamilton Southeastern volleyball team put together an undefeated season that culminated in a four-set win over Castle in the IHSAA 4A state championship game at Ball State University’s Worthen Arena. The Royals triumphed over the Knights 25-18, 24-26, 25-20, 25-15 in a hard-fought match.
Lauren Harden, one of the many seniors on this HSE team said this group “is a really special group. We have a big senior class and that was a big thing for the runs that we had this season.”
Southeastern won the first four points of the match, with kills from all three of its big hitters. Lindsey Mangelson got the first point, then Harden and Tiffany Snook both put down kills. Castle began to work its way into the match after that, but Southeastern’s timely hitting gave it enough of a cushion to win the set. Snook hit a kill to finish things up.
Southeastern led 21-17 in the second set, then had three set points at 24-21. But Castle’s Megan Harpenau hit a kill to start a five-point run, and Katie Kopshever hit back-to-back kills to level the match.
The Knights led 4-1 early in the third set before Southeastern won the next four points. Snook started the run with a kill, then Mangelson hit two more. The Royals never trailed again after that point and began to steadily build a lead throughout the set. Breonna Goss helped out with a pair of kills, then Harden blasted another kill on set point.
“She’s been a leader for us all year long,” said HSE coach Jason Young. “I thought she did an unbelievable job, either attacking and also defending, making plays to keep balls alive and make things happen.”
With that, Southeastern led two sets to one. The Royals began to see the finish line, and jumped out to a 7-2 lead, with Madi Evett, Goss and Mangelson all hitting kills. With the lead at 10-5, Harden spiked two more kills, and another one got HSE ahead 14-6.
Castle made one more four-point run to get within 14-10, but Southeastern erased that with a four-point run of its own. Harden hit a kill to get the Royals to match point, and Snook put down another kill to finish the match.
Southeastern had four players hit double-digit kills. Mangelson led the way with 17, followed by Snook with 14, then Harden and Goss each hit 13. Macy Hinshaw handed out 38 assists, with Ava Hunter dishing out 20 assists.
“I think we have two of the best outsides in the entire country,” said Young. “Harden is unbelievable.” The coach also said that Mangelson continues “to take steps in the right direction every single year to become an elite player. She’s an elite player.”
Southeastern finished the season 33-0, only dropping five sets during the entire season. The Royals have won 67 straight matches.
“Sometimes we let it sneak into our minds, but we have to keep it out because if we let it sneak in, then we will stress and we’ll just get out of control,” said Mangelson.
Sophie Ledbetter led the digs with 17 (going over 1,000 for her career) and also served two aces. Hinshaw collected 16 digs, while Maye McConnell and Harden both had 11.
While it was a triumphant moment for the Royals, Young also called it “bittersweet,” as it was the last time this very special group of seniors would play for Southeastern.
“I’m just proud of them and proud of what they’ve done for the program and how they’ve left it,” said Young. “It’s a group of young ladies that I’m proud to have around my daughter. They’re role models.”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” said Harden. “A lot of people view it as, ‘Oh, all the players on our team aren’t getting like 1,000 kills or 1,000 assists,’ but it’s just because we just have so many great players on this team.”
Reporter photos by Julie Brown