Northview tops Cloverdale 3-0 to win another conference title

Friday, October 5, 2018
Cloverdale’s Tori Combs goes up to hit over Northview’s Madeline Sinders and Kassidy Glassburn.
Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

CLOVERDALE — The Western Indiana Conference volleyball championship contest was played Tuesday night in front of a raucous crowd at Cloverdale High School.

The Northview Knights won their second consecutive WIC title by defeating the Cloverdale Clovers in three games, 25-19, 25-23, and 26-24.

The powerful Knights were able to hold off the underdog Clovers to pick up the title. Northview has won or shared the conference championship in 13 of the last 15 years.

“Our team had a goal this year to come out and win conference. It didn’t happen like we thought it would, but we did it and it feels good,” Northview head coach Erica Garrison said as the Knights improved to 27-2 heading into sectional play.

The Clovers celebrated “Senior Night” prior to the contest and with a large crowd gave the Knights all they could handle on the evening.

The Clovers came out and scored the first three points of the first match, but the powerful front line of Northview scored four consecutive points and the two teams played evenly until late in the match — as the Knights closed out the first game with a 7-2 run.

“I was extremely pleased with how we played tonight,” Clover interim head coach Jim Spencer said. “We had a great crowd and the kids played hard and got after it against a very, very solid volleyball team.”

Jenny Lundy and Kambree Lucas led the way with several kills for Northview, while Tori Combs of Cloverdale matched their play to keep the Clovers in it.

Northview led the second game wire-to-wire, even extending its lead to 19-8 at one point, but the resilient Clovers battled back to close within one point at 23-22 and 24-23. They couldn’t get over the hump and Northview picked up the second game 25-23.

“During our second timeout, I told the girls to go have fun and keep hitting. We battled back, and you can’t play a chess match with a team that good,” Spencer said.

The Clovers jumped out in game three to a 3-1 lead. The teams battled evenly for the next several points with Cloverdale pulling ahead 19-15, but a couple of errors and some big kills by Lundy allowed Northview to close out the championship with a 26-24 victory.

“We have some slow starts and kind of play to our competition. I wish at times we would go out and show people how good we are. Number 11 (Combs) really caused us some problems,” Garrison said.

Cloverdale had a lot people step up, according to Spencer.

“Kayla Perdue, Haley Smith and Kassie Wade have really improved throughout the year. They have gotten smarter and made us a better team. It takes six players on the floor understanding their role,” Spencer said.

Cloverdale will take its 18-10 record into sectional play next Tuesday against county rival North Putnam.

Spencer thinks the tough loss should help the Clovers in the tournament.

“Anything can happen in tournament play. Tonight should help us, but North Putnam will be ready for us,” Spencer said.

The Knights will take on South Vermillion in their sectional contest next week. “We have to continue to improve as we go into the tournament,” Garrison said.

Clover stats:

Points: Hannah Rady 8, Tori Combs 7, Hailey Thomas 6

Digs: MacKenzie Stoltz 9, Hailey Thomas 7

Kills: Tori Combs 9, MacKenzie Stoltz 9, Kayla Perdue 6

Blocks: Tori Combs 3 solo blocks

Assists: Hannah Rady 19

Cloverdale JV volleyball dropped its last game of the season to finish 12-8, falling 15-25 and 21-25.

Clover stats:

Kills: Alexa Wynia 5, Ashlynn Basore 4

Points: Kacey Shedron 3, Aubree Branigan 3

Digs: Bella Branneman 16

WIC crossover volleyball results

1st/2nd place — Northview 3, Cloverdale 0

3rd/4th place — Greencastle 3, Indian Creek 0

5th/6th place — North Putnam 3, Brown County 1

7th/8th place — Owen Valley 3, Sullivan 0

9th/10th place — Edgewood 3, South Putnam 0

11th/12th place — Cascade 3, West Vigo 2