The Fishers volleyball team is making its first trip to a regional in eight years, and it isn’t a long trip.
The Tigers are heading right up the road to The Mill at Noblesville High School, which is hosting a very competitive Class 4A regional on Saturday. The first semi-final begins at 10 a.m. and will see Fort Wayne Carroll take on a Yorktown team that might be one of the top teams in the entire country.
After that, Fishers will play an old Hoosier Crossroads Conference rival: Zionsville. The semi-final winners will play for the regional championship at 7:30 p.m.
The Tigers played the Eagles early in the regular season, on Aug. 23. The match was an easy win for Fishers, 25-22, 25-21, 25-17. Four Fishers players hit at least 10 kills: Sophomore Camryn Haworth had 13, junior Bryn Roberts 12, and sophomore Jada Allen and senior Audrey Haworth both put down 10 kills. Senior Rose Duffy ran the offense well with 43 assists, and also collected 20 digs on defense.
Zionsville finished its season 22-7 and has a Hamilton County connection. The coach is Rich Coleman, who supervised the Carmel program for several years and led it to remarkable success. The Greyhounds reached the 4A state finals three years in a row under Coleman in 2012-13-14, winning in 2014.
The Eagles won the Harrison sectional, beating McCutcheon in four sets (25-20, 21-25, 25-21, 25-16), then sweeping the host Raiders in three sets in the championship (25-12, 25-8, 25-22).
Senior Megan Sheridan is the Eagles’ attack leader, with 398 kills this season and a solid hitting percentage of .351. Senior Lauren Latka has served 39 aces, leading Zionsville in that category. The Eagles’ main setter is a junior, Katie Kirkendol, and she has dished out 900 assists.
Junior Anna Murphy has made 340 digs for Zionsville on defense, with Latka right behind her at 335. Senior Sophie Stapp leads the Eagles’ blocking with 57 for the season.
The Tigers won three matches to get their championship, beating Hamilton Southeastern 25-23, 25-13, 25-16; sectional host Westfield 22-25, 25-12, 25-21, 25-16 and Noblesville 25-10, 25-13, 25-20.
All four of the afore-mentioned Fishers players have at least 100 kills on the season. Camryn Haworth has put down 231 kills, with Allen right behind at 225; Allen also owns a great hitting percentage of .398. Audrey Haworth is next in line with 167 kills, while Roberts has 152.
Duffy has handed out 791 assists this season. Senior Emma Rosenberg has played the role of libero and done it well, with 324 digs. Duffy has 245 digs for the year, with Camryn Haworth collecting 237. Camryn is also the ace leader with 52. Sophomore Haley Soper leads the team blocking with 92 total (seven solo and 85 assists), while Allen has 86 total (10 solo and 76 assists).
The Noblesville regional will be a tough one, as all four teams are ranked in the top 15 in the MaxPreps Class 4A rankings. Fishers (24-4) is fourth, while Zionsville is 15th. In the other match, Carroll is ninth, while Yorktown is No. 1.
The Yorktown Tigers, in fact, are also rated fourth in the nation, according to MaxPreps. There’s good reason: Yorktown is 31-0 for the season and has only lost one set the entire year. That one set went to New Castle, which is ranked No. 1 in 3A.
The Tigers swept through the Fort Wayne North Side sectional with no trouble at all, only dropping 63 points in nine sets – similar to winning each set 25-7. Yorktown beat Huntington North 25-10, 25-7, 25-11; Homestead 25-7, 25-8, 25-8 and North Side 25-4, 25-3, 25-4.
Kenzie Knuckles is the Tigers’ kill leader with 339, while senior Tegan Seyring has 281 kills on a .421 hitting percentage. Five Yorktown players have served at least 20 aces, with sophomore Ellee Stinson hitting 26. Junior Kate Vinson has handed out 1,031 assists. Senior Kylie Murr leads the defense with 479 digs, with sophomore Jaylynn Dunsmore making 53 total blocks.
Carroll is 28-5 for the season and won two straight-set matches for the East Noble sectional championship. The Chargers beat East Noble 26-24, 25-15, 25-17 in the semi-finals and Concordia Lutheran 25-16, 25-22, 25-23 in the championship.
The Chargers’ offense is led by three seniors with at least 200 kills: Anna Frey has 290, Karsyn Moller has 229 and Jordan Martin 222. Sophomore Taya Haffner has dished out 926 assists and served 54 aces; six Carroll players have hit 26 aces or more this season.
Frey leads the blocking with 68 total blocks, while senior Rhya Swoverland has collected 327 digs.
Fishers senior Emma Rosenberg has been a leader for the Tigers on defense with 324 digs this season. Fishers will play at the Noblesville regional on Saturday, taking on Zionsville in its semi-final match. (Kirk Green/File photo)