It’s already been a busy week for the Noblesville volleyball team.
On Monday, the Millers hosted Yorktown, the defending Class 4A state champions and arguably the best team in the state. The Tigers beat Noblesville 25-5, 25-14, 25-12.
Lexie Almodovar had nine digs, six kills and three assists for the Millers. Riley Branch dished out nine assists, while Rose Crist put down six kills. Abby Johnson collected four digs, Allison Parks had three digs and Sydney Sparks had two digs. Ella Peter hit two kills, Anna Kiser had one kill and one block, Bella Hines served one ace and Diana Cox had one dig.
Noblesville traveled to Hamilton Heights on Tuesday and came home with a hard-fought win, 25-14, 25-17, 27-25. The Huskies led 5-0 in the third set and held two set points before the Millers came back to win.
Almodovar was her usual dominant self with 21 kills, 15 assists, seven digs, four blocks and two aces. Mandy Knieper and Peter both hit four kills, while Branch handed out 21 assists and served four aces. Cox picked up 16 digs and Kiser made three blocks.
Crist was injured before the Tuesday match and unable to compete. Noblesville coach Jill Almodovar credited McKinley Rose for coming in and taking Crist’s place, doing “a really nice job in a tough position: Playing JV to dressing varsity to playing varsity.
“I felt like we came in here and did the job we needed to do.”
The Huskies were led by Carlie Ward, who had a total of 24 serve receives and had only four errors. Kelsey Smith made 10 assists, while Jordan Fryman hit six kills.
“With a young team, we just need to work a little bit harder on not having so many lows and a few more highs,” said Heights coach Steve Ward.
In another hard-fought county match, Carmel swept Westfield in three tough sets on Monday, 29-27, 29-27, 25-17.
Macarty McQueen hit 11 kills for the Greyhounds, and also had six digs and four aces. Anne Lesure dished out 19 assists in addition to 10 digs and nine kills. Gabby Smith had seven kills and four blocks, while Ella Bostic handed out 18 assists, plus five digs and one ace.
Kenzie Daffinee led the Shamrocks with 16 kills and four aces. Peighton Isley picked up 14 digs and Katie Sweet made three blocks.
In a Tuesday Metropolitan Conference match, Carmel was swept by Lawrence North 27-25, 25-17, 25-23. Kamryn Kichefski put down 10 kills, with Smith hitting eight kills. Anne Lesure totaled 15 assists, seven kills and seven digs, Bostic had 20 assists, four digs and one ace, and Maria Zweig collected 14 digs.
On Saturday, the Greyhounds played in the Providence Round Robin.
Carmel beat Jasper 25-6, 25-17, 25-10. McQueen had 10 kills, Lesure had 14 assists, nine kills and three aces, Smith had six kills, three blocks and two aces, and Bostic totaled 17 assists and eight digs.
The Greyhounds lost to Providence 28-26, 25-21, 25-17 in their second match. Lesure had 15 assists, 11 kills, 10 digs and two blocks, McQueen totaled 10 kills, 10 digs and two blocks, Smith had six kills, five digs and four blocks, and Zweig collected 13 digs.
Hamilton Southeastern swept Pendleton Heights in a Monday match, 25-20, 25-16, 25-10, improving to 10-3 for the season.
Delaney Garner led the Royals with 14 kills, while Abby Weber and Grace Hunter each spiked 11 kills. Carly Mills and Lillian Leiner led the Southeastern defense with 15 digs each.
On Saturday, the Royals hosted their Southeastern Showcase, and won two matches in straight sets.
First, HSE beat North Central 25-12, 25-10, 25-16. Abby Weber put down 15 kills, while Taylor Lauri had five kills and two aces. Leiner contributed nine digs and three aces, with Kyla Berg collecting 12 digs.
In their second match, the Royals took care of Mount Vernon 25-22, 25-10, 25-18. Abby Weber dominated the match with 23 digs and 14 kills. Garner hit 11 kills, while Hunter had 12 digs and nine kills. Mills picked up 17 digs, Olivia Phillips had 20 assists and two kills, and Emily Weber totaled 18 assists and three kills.
University swept past Indiana School for the Deaf on Monday, 25-10, 25-22, 25-17.
Stella Behforouz and Lindsey Syrek led the Trailblazers in kills.
Sheridan dropped two matches this week.
On Monday, the Blackhawks lost to Tipton 25-4, 25-17, 25-10. Taylor Bates had five assists and one ace. Lillie Dickerson and Becca Merritt both hit three kills. Cheyenne Brooks made three solo blocks, while Dickerson and Allie Delph each collected five digs.
On Tuesday, Sheridan fell to Clinton Prairie in a hard-fought, five-set battle. The scores were 25-17, 24-26, 16-25, 25-18, 15-8.
Dickerson had 11 digs and two aces. Bates contributed 27 assists and nine kills. Delph had 11 kills and seven digs, while Merritt totaled 17 kills and 12 digs.
The Blackhawks junior varsity fell 25-14, 25-12. Lilly Chesney collected six digs, Kayla Beahrs made one solo block and Kaiden Wilson served two aces. Zoey Fisher had six digs, two kills and one assist.
Noblesville’s Bella Hines (left) and Ella Peter go up to make a block during the Millers’ match with Yorktown on Monday. (Kent Graham)
The Carmel volleyball team split its games this week, beating Westfield on Monday before falling to Lawrence North on Tuesday. (Kirk Green)