By RICHIE HALL
It may be early in the high school volleyball season, but Hamilton Southeastern has already proved that it is a tough team.
On Monday, the Royals won a five-set match over Carmel. On Wednesday, Southeastern hosted New Castle, arguably the best team in Class 3A. The Royals had to fight the Trojans through four intense sets before finally prevailing, 25-19, 25-22, 28-30, 29-27.
Southeastern had three match points in the third set, but New Castle saved them all. The Trojans then saved four more match points in the fourth set before a final hit went out and HSE had the victory on its eighth match point.
“We just kept chipping away,” said Royals coach Jason Young. “We had so many opportunities to finish the match. I think we needed every single one of those match points to get it done.
“That’s a great team over there,” Young said of New Castle. “That’s a team that won a state championship last year. That’s a team that’s favored to win a state championship again in 3A. They’re missing a few pieces tonight, but when they’re back, that’s a team that’s one of the best teams in the United States of America. It was a great win and a great atmosphere.”
The first set was the easiest one of the match for Southeastern, and the second set looked like it would be easy as well, with the Royals leading 17-5. But New Castle began working its way back, cutting HSE’s advantage down before the Royals finally won it 25-22.
Southeastern looked to have the third set in hand, turning an early 11-9 deficit into a 17-13 lead. Seniors Zada Anderson and Taylor Shelton both had kills during the run. The Trojans came back to tie the set at 18-18, but then the Royals bolted back out to a 23-19 lead, with Grace Hunter hitting a pair of kills and Lillian Leiner helping out with an ace.
Southeastern had two match points at 24-22, but New Castle saved them both. That started a back-and-forth that saw HSE get another match point at 27-26 get erased by a Trojan kill. Meanwhile, New Castle needed five set points to finally take the set, which they did with a net tip.
New Castle used the momentum to take a 6-2 lead in the fourth set, but the Royals zoomed off on an 11-1 run following a timeout. Hunter put down three kills, Abby Weber hit two more kills, and Shelton served back-to-back aces.
“I thought Shelton was absolutely remarkable,” said Young. “She just stepped up in key moments and delivered. Down the stretch, it was Taylor Time. She made it work. I loved that Anderson in the middle, she did just a fantastic job for us with 12 kills, just giving us a little mix. Really proud of the effort of the kids.”
The Royals led 18-13 late in the set, but New Castle rattled off five points in a row to tie things up again. The back-and-forth continued to 23-23, then HSE was up 24-23 for another match point.
Southeastern kept hitting kills to get to match point, but the Trojans would save them all. Finally at 27-27, Shelton’s kill got HSE up 28-27, and New Castle hit the ball out to end the match.
Hunter and Shelton both hit 18 kills, with Shelton also serving five aces. Anderson had 12 kills. Carly Mills played solid on defense with 17 digs and also hit four aces. Leiner had 13 digs.
The Royals will get a break (they deserve one) until Saturday, when they travel to the Penn Invitational.
Huskies volleyball falls to Lebanon
Hamilton Heights dropped a tough straight-set match to Lebanon on Wednesday, 25-17, 26-24, 27-25.
Seniors Hannah Crist, Kennedy Lewis, and Sydney Griffey all had great plays to keep the Huskies in the match.
Hamilton Southeastern’s Zada Anderson had 12 kills for the Royals in their tough four-set win over New Castle on Thursday. (Kirk Green)
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