The Carmel volleyball team picked up two hard-fought wins to start the week.
On Monday, the Greyhounds beat Pike in four sets, 25-10, 28-26, 21-25, 25-20. Lauren Evans led a balanced attack with 13 kills, followed by Emily Waddell with 12 and Jessica Pickett with eight.
Peyton Ulrey served seven aces, while Lauren Dossey had four aces. Emerson Evans hit three aces and Lauren Evans served two. Emerson Evans also handed out 35 assists. On defense, Lauren Evans had 19 digs, with Dossey collecting seven and Ulrey making six. Pickett had five blocks and Waddell had one.
Carmel came back on Tuesday to win a tough five-set match against Cathedral. The Greyhounds came from behind to win 16-25, 21-25, 25-16, 25-21, 15-13.
“Our plan is always win the serve and pass, first and foremost,” said Carmel coach Kristine Deem. “We knew that we weren’t doing that, and we needed just a little bit of a mix-up. So we changed it up on our side, but just more so to try to build some confidence within ourselves.”
Avery Carroll put down 17 kills, with Lauren Evans hitting 14. Waddell had nine kills, Pickett hit seven and Kiah Jackson put down five. Emerson Evans dished out 29 assists, while Amanda Ailes handed out 21 assists.
Ailes and Lauren Evans both served four aces and Emerson Evans hit one ace. Lauren Evans made 26 digs, while Dossey collected 21, followed by Ailes with 10 and Emerson Evans with five. Waddell made six blocks, and Carroll, Pickett and Jackson each had four blocks.
Carmel is 17-7 and plays at Plainfield on Thursday.
Carmel’s Emerson Evans prepares to serve on match point of the Greyhounds’
hard-fought win over Cathedral on Tuesday. (Kirk Green)
***
Hamilton Southeastern beat a very strong Wapahani team Monday, 25-11, 25-17, 25-16.
The Royals used a well-balanced team effort match against the Raiders. The victory extended Southeastern’s streak to 20 consecutive wins; the Royals are 20-1 for the season. HSE is currently ranked seventh in the country and first in the state, according to MaxPreps.
Royals coach Jason Young was extremely pleased with their performance and shared that they are looking to improve each game, and very practice. The team is performing well together, and playing its best in the most competitive situations, like on the road against Yorktown when it took five sets to defeat the Tigers, who are now 22-2. Young gives much of the team’s success this year to being deep with talent which creates very competitive play in practices.
Southeastern host Hamilton Heights (12-9) tonight and then 16th-ranked Noblesville (16-4) on Thursday.
***
Westfield swept North Central in a Monday match, 25-19, 25-14, 25-22.
Mallory Weber led the defense with 16 digs and reached the 1,000-dig milestone for her career. Emma Dodson hit 10 kills, with Ella Jenkins spiking seven kills. Lilly Stanton dished out 17 assists and Izzy Jackson handed out eight.
The Shamrocks are 10-10 and play a Hoosier Crossroads Conference match at Avon Thursday.
***
Guerin Catholic swept Cardinal Ritter on Tuesday 25-13, 25-11, 25-13.
The Golden Eagles are 10-16 and host Greenfield-Central and Fishers on Saturday.
***
Noblesville swept Heritage Christian 27-25, 25-16, 25-21 on Tuesday.
The Millers improved to 17-4 with the win and play Thursday at Hamilton Southeastern.
Noblesville’s Madison Brown (12) and Reese Resmer (9) go up for a block during the Millers’ win over Heritage Christian on Tuesday. (Kent Graham)
***
Fishers also scored a Tuesday sweep, beating Mount Vernon 25-11, 25-18, 25-8.
Ava Vickers led the offense with 13 kills, and also served three aces. Margo Hernandez hit three aces as well and handed out 38 assists.
Brynn Zastrow led the defense with 13 digs, followed by Jules Kellogg with 12. Bella Street made three blocks.
The Tigers are 15-6 and travel to Guerin Catholic on Saturday to play matches against Greenfield-Central and the Golden Eagles.
***
Hamilton Heights fell to Scecina Monday in a hard-fought match, 26-24, 25-17, 25-23.
Setter Callie Thomas played strong while setting up the hitters, while libero Kennedy Cherry and passers Katie Brown and Jessa Steffen held firm in the back row and made several saves.
The Huskies’ junior varsity team won 25-22, 20-25, 15-3.
The Heights varsity is 12-9 and plays tonight at Hamilton Southeastern.
***
Sheridan dropped a Tuesday Hoosier Heartland Conference match to Rossville at Larry Hobbs Hall.
The Hornets beat the Blackhawks 25-14, 25-16, 25-11; Rossville is 7-0 in the conference. Senne IJzer led the Sheridan offense with 11 kills, followed by Payton Warren with five. Nova Cross handed out 21 assists, and Meredith Krupp and Claudia Headlee both served one ace.
Krupp collected 12 digs, followed by Jacquellynne Bates with eight, Cross with seven, IJzer with seven and Warren with six.
Blackhawks coach Melissa Jump said her team “definitely has had a lot of close games this year. They just haven’t fallen our way, but we’re definitely competing with a lot of teams we’ve never competed with before since I’ve been here. They’re playing well.”
Sheridan is 2-5 in the conference and 5-16 overall. The Blackhawks play their final HHC match of the season Monday at Tri-Central.