By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – Volleyball can sometimes be a game of runs, and Fishers sprinted to the finish line Saturday night.
The Tigers won the Class 4A Sectional 8 championship at Westfield, sweeping Carmel in straight sets. They were tough sets, as Fishers won 25-21, 26-24, 25-19, claiming its first sectional title since 2018 and the third in the program’s history.
The Tigers finished with a remarkable flourish. In that third set, Fishers trailed 18-16, but then won nine of the last 10 points to take the set and the match. JaNyah Henderson got the Tigers up 19-18 after hitting a kill and then making a successful block.
“I think we were really aggressive and all the aggressive play in practice has really paid off,” said Henderson.
The Greyhounds called a timeout, but when play resumed, Carsen Plew stepped up and hit three consecutive aces. All of a sudden, Fishers was up 22-18.
“It really changed our momentum, felt a lot better,” said Plew. “Felt like we actually had control of the match. It really helped that they were at the end of the match, too.”
Carmel’s Macarty McQueen stopped the run by hitting a kill, but the Tigers won the next three points to finish the match. Ava Vickers set up championship point with a successful block, then Lucy Kay put down a kill for the win.
“We started to make some errors,” said Fishers coach Steven Peek. “It’s a team thing. No one individual’s responsible. We stuck with our starting lineup from start to finish. When you make errors like that, you also have to be mature enough to recognize that that’s the reason and be able to respond. So, that’s what we did. That’s what you have to do. The only other choice is to sit back and take it. And we’re not going to do that.”
After winning a tough first set, the Tigers took early leads in what would turn out to be an even tougher second set. Fishers went up 6-3 after Vickers made a block, then later led 9-5.
The Greyhounds worked their way back to an 11-11 tie, with Ella Brooks and Emily Waddell hitting kills. The Tigers took the lead again; Leslie Groff hit a couple of kills, then Vickers and Henderson both put down kills, and Fishers still held a 19-16 lead.
Carmel won four straight points to go up 20-19; Waddell made a successful block during that run. But a Henderson kill to end the run, then Lucy Kay’s kill started a Tigers run to a 23-20 lead.
The Greyhounds again came back to tie the set at 23-23, then again at 24-24, ensuring an extended set. With Fishers up 25-24, Groff put down a kill to give the Tigers the set.
“Mental toughness is at the core of what we’ve been doing all year,” said Peek. “Our core theme of the year is ‘No fear.’ And that comes with not only being courageous, but being able to not look at the scoreboard, be consistent and just settle back into everyone doing their job, and that’s how we work together. So, pretty happy about that.”
Carmel had the lead for most of the third set, at one point going up 15-10 after Caroline Yuska and Brooks hit kills. But the Tigers began their comeback after the Greyhounds led 18-16, with Henderson’s net play and Plew’s aces getting Fishers out of trouble. Plew’s three aces, in fact, were her only aces of the night.
“The stats are nice, but timing is everything,” said Peek. He praised Plew as “a person of great character” and a member of the Academic All-State team as well.
“Everyone has a chnace to have a moment in this game and on our team, as you can see by balanced statistics,” said Peek. “That’s her moment and she took it.”
Groff and Henderson both had six kills, while Kay and Plew each hit five kills. Vickers put down three kills, and Margo Hernandez handed out 27 assists. Adileh Amirrezvari served two aces. On defense, Samantha Perdue made 11 digs, while Hernandez collected five digs. Vickers had eight blocks and Henderson made five blocks.
For the Greyhounds, Brooks and Waddell each hit eight kills, followed by McQueen with seven and Lauren Evans and Savanna Rogers with five each. Ella Bostic dished out 37 assists, while Brooks, Evans and Lauren Dossey all served one ace. Dossey led the defense with 14 digs, while Evans had 10 and Brooks had nine.
“We knew it was going to be a fight no matter what,” said Carmel coach Kristine Deem, whose teams finished the season 25-7. “Both teams are very deserving of being here tonight. Fishers fought crazy hard. They had an excellent match. We showed a bit of humanity in our game. Our girls conitnued to fight. We talked about a lot of things to take away from the match, the positive pieces of it, the things that we can learn from it.”
Fishers is 21-5 and will travel to The Mill next Saturday to play in the Noblesville regional. The Tigers take on Fort Wayne Carroll in the first semi-final at 10 a.m., followed by a noon semi-final between McCutcheon and Homestead. The championship match is set for 7 p.m.
SEMI-FINAL MATCHES
In morning semi-final play, Carmel beat Hamilton Southeastern in four sets, 14-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-18. The Royals finished their season 26-3.
Meanwhile, Fishers swept Zionsville 25-12, 25-16, 25-11. Groff led the Tigers with 11 kills, followed by Henderson and Plew with nine each and Vickers with eight. Hernandez handed out 37 assists, while Plew served four aces. Perdue made 12 digs and Hernandez had 10 digs. Groff and Vickers both had two blocks.
AT BISHOP CHATARD
Hamilton Heights and Guerin Catholic played matches at Class 3A Sectional 27 at Bishop Chatard Saturday.
The Huskies advanced to the final match with a 25-5, 25-10, 25-6 win over Shortridge, then fell in the championship to Brebeuf Jesuit 25-23, 25-8, 25-17. In the semi-finals, the Braves beat the Golden Eagles 25-15, 25-20, 25-13.
Jordan Fryman led the hitting for Heights and Kami Syles was solid in blocking. The Huskies finished their season 18-9 and Guerin Catholic finished its season 14-14.
AT WESTERN BOONE
Sheridan and University played matches at Class 2A Sectional 43 at Western Boone on Saturday.
The Blackhawks lost in the semi-finals to the host Stars, 25-7, 25-8, 25-5. Nova Cross and Kaiden Wilson both hit two kills, with Cross handing out three assists and Taylor Bates dishing out two assists. Jacquellynne Bates served one ace.
On defense, Taylor Bates collected seven digs, while Jacquellynne Bates and Claudia Headlee both had four digs. Cross and Wilson each had a block assist.
The Trailblazers fell to Park Tudor in the semi-finals, 25-4, 25-8, 25-6.