SPORTS: Seymour battles Castle in 3 sets for regional win

Staff Reports

EVANSVILLE ? Seymour pounded its way past Castle to capture its second straight volleyball regional title on Tuesday night, 25-13, 25-8, 25-11.

?Definitely the key tonight was blocking,? Owls coach Angie Lucas said. ?We had four solo blocks and 16 assist blocks, and we just totally dominated at the net tonight. That really changed the whole game. It frustrated the other team. They are a scrappy team, and they tried to keep the ball going as much as they could, but we just dominated at the net.?

The Owls also were solid offensively. The team was 83 of 88 in hitting with 38 kills, and Abby Speer led the way by going 19 of 20 with 11 kills, and Jessica Lucas had 34 assists. In serving, the team was 68 of 71 with seven aces, and Chandler Clark led the way by going 30 of 30 with one ace. Hayden Dailey had a team-high four aces on 15-of-15 serving.

?Offensively, we were very strong,? Lucas said. ?We only had five hitting errors for the entire match, and we were just clicking on all cylinders tonight. It was a very good win for us.?

The positive for the Owls is they get to play semistate on their home court. At 11?a.m. Saturday, Class 4A No. 9 Seymour (30-5) will take on No. 10 Cathedral (22-9), and that will be followed by No. 4 Avon (32-5) facing No. 3 Columbus East (31-4). Columbus East won regional on Tuesday in three sets, while Cathedral won in four, and Avon won in five.

?We?re thrilled to death to be able to play on our home court and get back to where we were last year,? Lucas said. ?It says a lot about this team and how hard they?ve worked, and the coaching staff is just very proud of them. We?re excited, and we?ll be ready to play on Saturday.?

Cougars net win over Warriors

NEW ALBANY ? The Trinity Lutheran volleyball team defended its Class A regional title Tuesday night by defeating Christian Academy 27-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-11 on the Warriors? floor.

?The girls had fun with it,? Cougars coach Chelsey Hackman said. ?I tried to give them things to kind of keep their minds off the environment and just keep their minds on what they were doing while they?re playing out there. I think that?s what helps. I think when they get out there and they don?t clam up and freak out, it?s when they play their best, and if I can get their mind off of it, they do pretty well.?

The fourth set was tied at 2 before the Cougars went on an 8-1 run and remained on top the rest of the way. A block by Mallory Barker gave the Cougars a 12-5 lead; a kill by Haylee Barker set the score at 14-6, and a kill by Hannah Barker gave them a 21-10 lead. Match point came on a Christian Academy passing error.

?It was loud in here, obviously. I can barely talk. It was loud in here all night,? Hackman said. ?That team had a lot of fight. They had some big hitters and good defense, too. They played well at the end of the season and really came into it.?

The Cougars jumped on top 7-4 in the first set before the Warriors rebounded to take an 11-10 lead. Back-to-back kills by Mallory Barker, followed by a Christian Academy passing error, put Trinity in the lead at 12-11.

The Warriors rallied to take leads of 23-22 and 25-24 before the Cougars rallied for the win. Set point came on a Christian Academy hitting error.

The second set was tied at 6 before Trinity moved on top 18-17 on a Christian Academy attacking error. A kill by Sarah Stuckwisch gave Trinity its final lead at 18-17.

The third set was tied at 6 and 11 before the Cougars took control with a 5-0 run. They had a 22-21 lead before scoring the final three points, with set point coming on a Warrior attacking error.

Mallory Barker, who had 12 kills for the Cougars, said, ?I was just listening to the back row. They were doing a really good job telling me to go line and hit around the blockers or hit high so it went off their hands, and we got the point easily.?

Barker moved into the starting lineup this past year when Katie Jo Curry was injured. She said this regional title ?feels about the same. Winning a regional is really exciting.?

Hackman said her team will need to play better in Saturday?s Loogootee Semistate.

?I?d take a little bit better play,? she said. ?We had a lot of mistakes that we didn?t need to make, but you?re going to have that.?

The Cougars are 32-4, while the Warriors finished at 24-6.

Source: http://www.therepublic.com/view/local_story/Seymour-battles-Castle-in-3-se_1351052135

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