By RICHIE HALL
With senior leadership, a big-hitting freshman and tons of talent, the Royals are rolling this volleyball season.
Hamilton Southeastern improved its record to 8-0 Thursday night with a Hoosier Crossroads Conference win over Avon. The Royals swept the Orioles 25-14, 25-13, 25-19 to run their HCC record to 2-0, taking an early lead in the conference standings.
Southeastern, which is ranked No. 1 in MaxPreps’ Class 4A volleyball ratings, enjoyed a 20-8 lead in the first set before closing it out 25-14. Senior Delaney Garner hit a kill to bring up set point, and junior Emily Weber finished the job by making a kill that gave HSE the set.
The Royals cruised through the second set, winning nine of 10 points early in the set to lead 13-4. Junior Lovie Wallace, senior Olivia Phillips and sophomore Avery Hobson each hit a kill during the run, with freshman Lauren Harden and senior Carly Mills both serving an ace; Mills’ ace was a well-placed hit that landed just inside the far service line. The Royals won the set on another kill by Hobson.
“We run a pretty fast offense,” said Southeastern coach Jason Young. “A lot of timing goes into that. A lot of reps. The kids today looked pretty sharp. When we’re in system, we’re looking pretty good at this point.”
Avon gave the Royals a tough battle in the third set. At three different times, the Orioles won four points in a row. But in each case, Southeastern was able to on a run of their own to get itself out of trouble.
After two straight Avon blocks tied the score at 7-7, the Royals roared back to win 10 of 12 points to take a 17-9 lead. Wallace began the run with a kill, Mills served another ace, Garner sacked a kill and junior Meghan Slaninka served an ace as well.
The Orioles’ final run of the match got them within 20-17, but Southeastern let them get no closer. Hobson ended the match with a kill.
Harden had 10 kills for the match.
“It’s a difference-maker,” said Young. “Obviously, she’s a special player. She’s able to get points when we need them. Every day that she’s been in our gym, she’s gotten better. It’s been nice to see a progression. Tonight, I thought she was really, really good.”
Garner added nine kills and made two blocks, while Hobson hit eight kills. Weber handed out 24 assists and Slaninka served three aces,
Junior Emi Robinson collected 11 digs, while Mills had 16 digs.
“We’re blessed to have, in my opinion, one of the top defenders in the state,” Young said of Mills. “She’s going to Indiana University for a reason. She’s led from day one. She’s determined. Obviously, last year we came up a little bit short, so again, it’s a focus on getting better every single day. And she’s been one of the catalysts of the seniors to really take us up that mountain.”
The Royals will now prepare for next week, which begins with two big matches. Southeastern plays at Yorktown on Tuesday, then travels to Fishers on Thursday for the Mudsock match.
In an earlier match, the Royals beat Harrison 25-12, 25-12, 25-16 on Tuesday. Harden had 11 kills, Garner hit nine kills, while Brooke Elliott had five kills. Weber dished out 16 assists to go with four kills, while Phillips handed out 11 assists. Robinson and Taylor Lauri both collected 10 digs.
Fishers picked up a Senior Night win Thursday, overcoming a determined Perry Meridian team in four sets. The scores were 20-25, 25-10, 25-10, 25-23.
The emotions of Senior Night were evident in the first set. The Tigers, ranked No. 10 in the MaxPreps Class 4A ratings, had also not played a match since Aug. 24. But they were able to get the win and keep their record unbeaten for the year at 5-0.
“It’s a mixed bag, because I think it was really good for us in some ways, but it was also very bad for us in the 12 attack errors we had in the first set,” Fishers coach Steven Peek said of the Senior Night emotions. But he did see some good things as well.
“We had a lot of confidence coming out of that set, because we passed extremely well,” said Peek. “We’ve been focusing a ton on our serve receive, and we serve received well the entire night. When you have that, you have a backbone. And when you don’t have that, you’re in big, big, big trouble.”
The Tigers cut down on the errors, which helped them to cruise through the second and third sets. The fourth set was closer, but Peek gave credit to the Falcons for that one. He also thanked Perry Meridian for making the match happen so the Tigers could have their Senior Night.
“The fourth set was close because they did a great job of adjusting,” said Peek. “They went to a completely different defense, I believe in the third set, if not to start the third set.”
Fishers’ eight seniors – Jada Allen, Mikayla Christiansen, Grace Dunnuck, Camryn Haworth, Olivia Lux, Shelby Settles, Jill Snyder and Emily Waldrop – earned 59 of the Tigers’ 95 points on the evening, and added 41 digs as well.
Allen led the offense with 15 kills, while Christiansen hit 11 and Waldrop 10. Sophomore Ava Vickers added six kills and Dunnuck hit four.
Haworth handed out 43 assists. Waldrop and junior Samantha Perdue both had 10 digs, while Haworth and Lux both collected eight digs. Haworth also served three aces, and Allen, Christiansen and sophomore JaNyah Henderson all made three blocks.
The Tigers will be picking up the pace during the next week. Fishers will play four matches at the Providence Early Bird Invitational on Saturday, then travel to Lawrence North on Tuesday before hosting Hamilton Southeastern next Thursday for the Mudsock trophy.
Westfield played Perry Meridian on Wednesday at the Falcons’ gym, and won in four sets, 25-16, 27-25, 23-25, 25-17, to keep its record perfect at 6-0.
Grace Stewart hit 16 kills for the Shamrocks, who are ranked No. 9 in the MaxPreps 4A ratings. Mairin McAndrews had 13 kills. Sarah Weglarz handed out 40 assists, while Ellary Detamore collected 20 digs. Peighton Isley served three aces, and Kenzie Daffinee, Stewart and Katie Sweet all made two blocks.
Westfield next plays Tuesday at New Castle.
Grace Dunnuck hit four kills for Fishers. (Kirk Green)