Combs taking versatile skills to Lincoln Trail

Cloverdale’s Tori Combs (front row, second from right) signed to play volleyball and basketball for Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Ill. Witnessing the signing (from left, front) were brother Tate Combs, stepfather Travis Dorsett and mother Tisha Dorsett and (back) CHS principal Sonny Stoltz, CHS coach Matthew Langdon and CHS athletic director J.J. Wade.

Banner Graphic/JOEY BENNETT

CLOVERDALE — Tori Combs has racked up plenty of awards during her high school career.

She was the Putnam County “Player of the Year” this year in both volleyball and basketball, earning her second basketball honor after also winning that title in her sophomore season.

Combs also made the all-county softball team last spring after setting a school home run record.

Colleges love well-rounded athletes like Combs, and Lincoln Trail College signed her to play both volleyball and basketball for the Lady Statesmen.

In basketball, the Clovers went 22-4 this year and won the Western Indiana Conference championship while achieving a top-10 state ranking.

Combs led the Clovers in scoring (15.0) and rebounding (13.7) while surpassing the 1,000 career mark in both categories.

She also averaged 4.5 steals, 3.0 assists and 1.8 blocks per game in leading the Clovers to Putnam County and Western Indiana Conference titles.

Combs was chosen to the all-county team and all-conference teams for all four years of her high school career.

She was named to the Girls’ Top Seniors list by Hoosier Basketball Magazine, and as a first-team “small school” all-state team member by the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association. She will play in the HBCA Spring Classic All-Star Game on April 7 at Bloomington North.

In volleyball, Combs led the Clovers to another top-10 state ranking and runnerup finishes in the county tournament, the WIC standings and the sectional.

Being from a small high school, Combs likes the similarly quaint setting of Lincoln Trail.

“It was a nice setting there, and it was really small and I liked that,” she said. “The coaches were really nice, and they reminded me of the coaching staff we have here.”

Combs has talked to her future coaches about her role, and some normal changes will be made from her high school positions.

“In basketball, I can jump pretty high but I’m not that tall,” she said. “I’m going to have to play outside more than I’m used to.”

Lincoln Trail is one of few nearby junior colleges which offers a volleyball program, and only revived the program in the fall of 2014 after not having the sport for several years.

Combs does not see much of a problem in the potential overlapping of the sports, with volleyball taking place in the fall and basketball in the winter.

“I was talking with the volleyball coach and from what I understand the beginning of basketball is when the post-season for volleyball starts.”