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CASCADE VOLLEYBALL REGIONAL: Tiger Cubs swept out of regional by Cadets
CLAYTON – With a sectional title in tow, Greencastle advanced to the IHSAA Cascade Volleyball Regional looking to reverse a sweep against the Cadets and secure a spot in the regional final.
The hosts, despite a slow start, turned things around quickly on the Tiger Cubs, controlling all three sets to advance to the final with a 25-17, 25-15, 25-17 win.
“One of the things one of the coaches mentioned is that the precedent of being in a regional game is not something the girls, other than Madi Plew in basketball, had,” Greencastle head coach Denise Meyer said. “Having that experience of getting in and trying to work things out was a challenge.
“To the credit of Cascade, a lot of the same goals carried over for us from last week but what we knew about them is that they know how to push tempo of the game and keep it. It’s hard to break into them and while we had a plan for it, it was hard to accomplish.”
Greencastle got off to a quick start, taking an early five-point lead before Cascade settled in and began to play around the front line power of Hailey Dunn.
Dunn would record 16 kills across the three sets but it wasn’t always about hammering the ball home.
The Cadets, recognizing the strength in the Tiger Cub block, tipped and directed shots around the front line, dropping in point after point to turn the early deficit into a comfortable lead the visitors couldn’t cut into.
Part of the problem was the play of the Cascade backline, in particular libero Avery Littrell, who Meyer said dictated much of the play.
“Littrell is a wonderful libero for (Cascade) and was everywhere,” Meyer said. “She is a great defender and we couldn’t get to her because she was picking up a lot.
“That sets in motion their hitters, running their middles more than what we could run but part of that was down to how many free balls we were sending over. It was more than was planned.”
A better start to the second set saw the hosts keep an early five-point gap of their own before service pressure grom Grace Gray toward the end of the set kept Greencastle scrambling, dropping the visitors into a 2-0 hole.
The Tiger Cubs fell behind quickly to start the third set and, with the front line struggling to swing into the ball like normal, Cascade kept a sizable gap between the two teams, speeding away in the end to finish off the match and set up a regional final meeting with Indianapolis Scecina, a match the Crusaders would win in four sets.
“We were having some luck with the short shot on the outside and Keely (Amis) got a few kills there but then that stopped working and we were paralyzed as to what to do after that,” Meyer said about the offense’s lack of punch. ”We couldn’t get other things to fall.”
Greencastle finishes the season 19-15 with a first sectional title since 2018 in hand with Meyer hoping the end of season finish springboarding the squad onward in 2024.
“This is a huge accomplishment and a credit to the girls and how hard they’ve worked,” Meyer said. “Of course, you want the season to go on and the wins to keep coming but getting to the regional was a wonderful thing for these girls.
“I’m so proud of these girls as they had to go through some tough times during the season in order to get here. No one is going to take away the sectional title, the wins or the losses. We’re grateful to our four seniors, Madi, Maddie Landry, Kylee Owens and Lindy Watson; these girls have been here for four years and have been good leaders in that time.
“They’ve helped set a tone for what hopefully is to come, which is fighting to get back here, get to a regional championship game and beyond.”