CLAY CITY —
The sign outside the Clay City High School gym read “Different team, same dream.”
That dream is still alive, as the Eels captured their second straight Class A Sectional 57 volleyball championship Saturday night.
Clay City, with just three starters back from last year’s semistate team, overpowered a young White River Valley team 25-13, 25-18, 26-24 to earn a berth in the regional Tuesday night. The Eels will travel to the winner of Class A Sectional 58.
An up-and-down 13-10 season, filled with drama on and off the court, turned into a championship season under the leadership of seniors Halli Brewer, Callie Dayhuff, Chloe Kittle and Mackenzee Mckittrick.
Vance Edmondson, who stepped in to coach the team shortly before the opening match, said the Eels believed all season they could win.
“The hard work and dedication these girls showed all year long paid off tonight. I’m very proud of them. The girls believed all year long we could do this. We had some key returners coming back, Chloe, Callie, and Halli and Mackenzee and we put the pieces together, and filled in a couple of spots. I think we expected to be here,” Edmondson said.
Brewer led the Eels’ net attack with 15 kills and Dayhuff had 10, Emmie Kittle passed out 26 assists. Dayhuff also served four aces, two coming in game three when WRV made its stand.
The Eels dominated the first two games of the championship match with WRV. They never trailed, building a 20-8 lead in game won behind the middle hitting of Brewer and outside attack of Dayhuff. In game two, Clay City led just 9-8 before pulling away to a 25-18 victory.
“After last year, we had a chip on our shoulder and we had to defend our title,” Brewer said.
But White River Valley, a 10-15 team with a roster of five freshmen, three sophomores and just one senior, was not going home quickly.
The Wolverines may look back at Game 3 of the title match as the coming-out party for sophomore Shannon Pittman. The middle hitter made six of her team-high nine kills as the Wolverines built a 15-12 lead on a Pittman block.
WRV led 18-16 when Allison Wininger hammered down a kill.
“WRV fought to the bitter end and we knew they would. We talked in those timeouts there at the end that we wanted to win the game. We didn’t want them to give it to us,” Edmondson said.
Dayhuff tied it a final time at 24-24, then made a cross-court kill to end the match.
White River Valley 13 18 24
Clay City 25 25 26
Highlights — For Clay City, Halli Brewer led the Eels with 15 kills and 9 digs, while Callie Dayhuff had 10 kills, 11 digs and served 4 aces. Emmie Kittle passed out 26 assists and made 10 digs and Chloe Kittle finished with 9 digs and 5 kills. White River Valley was led by Allison Wininger hit 7 kills and came up with 17 digs, while Shannon Pittman led the Wolverines with 9 kills. Madison Hockman passed out 20 assists and had 8 digs. Alexandra Downey made 17 digs, Taylor Resler 12 and Alexis Graves 11.
Next — Clay City (13-10) plays at the winner of Sectional No. 58 on Tuesday night. White River Valley finished 10-16.
High School
Eels capture second straight title
- High School
-
-
Goatee, Bertoli ran away with Spring Athlete of the Year
When honoring athletes after a season of excellence, the phrase “what might have been” doesn’t usually come up.
But in the case of Terre Haute South’s Jackson Bertoli and Terre Haute North’s TaPring Goatee – the Tribune-Star’s Athletes of the Year for spring sports – there’s an air of unfinished business despite obvious recent successes.
-
Post 346 opens tournament with two victories
Preston Tofaute got on base enough to score three runs, Cody Thornton smashed a two-run triple in the first inning and pitcher Pete Lannoo scattered four hits over a seven-inning complete game.
All of that helped Wayne Newton Post 346 down Lafayette Post 11 by a 7-2 score in the opener of the Terre Haute Inviatational tournament for American Legion baseball Thursday afternoon at Terre Haute North High School. -
North boys move up to 13th in golf state finals
Early Wednesday morning, Terre Haute North senior Ryan Baker and coach Abe Nasser headed out to the Legends of Indiana Golf Course for a range session.
Baker wasn’t happy with the 85 he shot in Tuesday’s first round of the IHSAA boys golf state finals.
“He was frustrated,” Nasser said.
Problem solved. Baker bounced back with a 2-over 74 Wednesday, helping the Patriots improve their team score by seven strokes.
The Patriots shot 304 as a team Wednesday, giving them a two-day score of 615, good for 13th place in the 15-team field. -
Big hill to climb for North golf
Terre Haute North boys golf is 21 strokes behind leaders at IHSAA boys golf tourney.
-
Top of her game
There are a lot of surprising facts about blossoming volleyball prodigy Caitlyn Newton, including that shape-shifting thing she can apparently do, but maybe one of them stands out the most. She may only be scratching the surface.
-
Camp, Howe win, then lose in state tennis tourney
Miranda Camp and Nicole Howe of Terre Haute South won their first match of high school tennis Friday at the state individual doubles finals, then won the first set against a powerful Park Tudor team before falling in three sets.
-
Terre Haute North heading back to state finals in boys golf
Terre Haute North is going back to the state finals in boys high school golf for the first time in more than 10 years. The Patriots qualified for a trip to The Legends Course next week by tying for third in the Washington Regional at Country Oaks Golf Club and advancing with the better fifth score.
-
North, South, Sullivan to compete at golf regional
Boys high school golf teams from the Wabash Valley will compete in the Washington Regional on Thursday, seeking a spot in the state finals to be played next week.
-
Terre Haute North falls 6-1 to Brownsburg in opening game of Class 4A Regional
Terre Haute North coach Shawn Turner told the Patriots to raise their heads. He wanted to see their eyes at the close of their 24-7 high school baseball season.
-
Terre Haute North girls shine on dreary day at track state finals
Led by a record setting 3,200-meter relay team and Keirra Porter’s long jump, Terre Haute North turned in its best finish ever in the 40th annual IHSAA Girls Track & Field Championships on Saturday at Indiana University in Bloomington.
-
Valley teams will have to wait until Monday for baseball regionals
Rain and the threat of more rain caused postponements of high school baseball regionals involving Terre Haute North, West Vigo and Shakamak on Saturday.
-
Rockville's season ends at Lafayette Central Catholic
Lafayette Central Catholic ended Rockville’s tourney run in high school baseball Saturday, defeating the Rox 8-0 in the first game of the LCC Class A Regional.
-
IHSAA boys state track finals: Standing alone
It hadn’t been a particularly good day for Wabash Valley track and field Friday, and it wasn’t looking like a good one for Jackson Bertoli either.
-
Terre Haute North, West Vigo return to baseball regionals
Terre Haute North’s baseball team hasn’t participated in an IHSAA regional since 2006. West Vigo’s wait hasn’t been as long, but it was 2010 when the Vikings last advanced from a sectional.
-
Patriots girls take aim at state track title
Terre Haute North’s girls have several potential state champions today at Indiana University.
-
South, North track athletes looking for big performances at state finals
Terre Haute South’s distance trio of Jackson Bertoli, Logan Hambrock and Riley Stohler appear to be the favorites to crack all-state status among Wabash Valley competitors today in the IHSAA boys track and field state finals at Indiana University.
-
Internet site keeps area prep teams on airwaves
- PREP ROUNDUP: Locals to take part in Hoosiers All-Star Game
-
South Vermillion softball can't overcome errors, Tri-West
Uncharacteristic errors led to eight unearned runs and hard-luck hitting made that impossible to overcome for South Vermillion, which fell 8-0 to Tri-West in Class 3A regional play.
-
Clay City softball comes up short against Lutheran
Clay City closed its high school softball season Tuesday night with the best record ever for the program at 21-9.
The Eels wanted to add another win, the school’s first regional title, but they came up short.
-
PREP ROUNDUP: Rockville wins baseball sectional
Rockville won its own Class A sectional in high school baseball Tuesday, defeating Covington 10-4 in the rain-delayed championship game.
-
Class 4A Terre Haute South Sectional:The wait is over
Three minutes into an interview with various media members, Terre Haute North baseball coach Shawn Turner couldn’t react fast enough to avoid a bucket of ice water being dumped over his head from behind by his giddy players. The soaking-wet Turner could shake it off with a smile, however, because his Patriots had just won the IHSAA Class 4A Terre Haute South Sectional championship with a 13-3 six-inning triumph over Plainfield on Monday evening.
-
Class 4A Terre Haute South Sectional: TH North, Plainfield win squeakers
The high school baseball teams of Terre Haute North and Plainfield proved Monday that what a batter does early in the game is not necessarily indicative of what he will do in the late innings.
-
Class 2A Linton Sectional: Eastern rains on Sullivan parade
Mother Nature put Sullivan’s quest for a high school baseball sectional championship on hold Monday night at Linton-Stockton High School. Sullivan (14-15) and Eastern Greene (16-7) will resume play in the Class 2A Sectional 47 championship game at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Linton’s Roy Herndon Field.
-
Opening Day: Terre Haute Rex host Quincy
In his first season at the helm, first-year Terre Haute Rex manager Ronnie Prettyman is going to be surrounded by men he knows and trusts.
-
Class A Shakamak Sectional: Stout pitching leads Union, Shakamak to final
Trey Bedwell and Patrick Green made sure their respective high school baseball teams would meet for the championship of the Class A Shakamak Sectional by pitching shutouts in semifinal contests Monday afternoon.
-
Class A Rockville Sectional: Covington, Rockville title game postponed
Rockville and Covington won semifinal high school baseball games Monday to advance to the championship game of the Rockville Class A Sectional. Due to rain, the championship game was postponed. A decision was expected this morning whether the game will be played today or Wednesday.
-
South Vermillion, Linton, Clay City look to stay alive in softball
There might have been as many reasons to think they wouldn’t be winning sectionals this spring as evidence to show they would, but high school softball teams from South Vermillion, Linton and Clay City will be playing one-game regionals Tuesday with the chance to keep defying the odds.
-
West Vigo back on top of Class 3A baseball sectional
West Vigo won its sectional with a 6-4 victory over South Vermillion on a rainy night at Dick Ballinger Field.
-
South runs into ‘buzzsaw’ at girls tennis semistate
Postmatch interviews don’t often begin with a coach and a reporter ready to blurt out the same word, but that was the case for Bill Blankenbaker and his interviewer Saturday morning after the Center Grove Semistate for girls high school tennis.
Unfortunately for Blankenbaker’s Terre Haute South team, that word was “buzzsaw.”
Greenwood’s Kawamoto twins made quick work of the top of the Braves’ singles lineup, so despite stellar efforts by both South doubles teams the Woodmen’s 3-2 victory didn’t seem all that close.
Greenwood moves on to Fishers, where it plays Floyd Central or Jasper on Friday in the state quarterfinals.
Also playing Friday, but at Park Tudor, will be South’s Miranda Camp and Nicole Howe, who reached the individual doubles finals for the second straight season by virtue of their 6-4, 6-2 win over the Greenwood team of Taylor Hudnall and Brittany Toney.
“It’s really exciting,” said Howe of the prospect of a second straight finals trip, “but I wish our team could’ve gone with us.”
- More High School Headlines
-
Ohio Woman Accuses 3 of Holding Her Captive
Hunt for Ex-Teamster Boss Hoffa's Remains Ends
Time Lapse: Rebuilding Bridge Post-collapse
Fans Cheer Dramatic Heat Comeback
Tiger on Sergio: 'It's Time to Move On'
Car Crash in NYC's East Village Injures 8
Raw: NASCAR Driver Jason Leffler Dies in Wreck
Robot Action Connected to Human Thought
Aug. Trial Set for Ohio Man in Triple Kidnapping
Ex-NFL Star Chad Johnson Out of Jail
Raw: Baby White Rhino Debuts at Australian Zoo
Failed Cuba-to-Florida Swimmer Won't Try Again
Rain Damages Brazil Soccer Stadium
Unusual Heat Wave Bakes Alaska
James Gandolfini Dies at Age 51
Raw: Massive Protests Fill Brazilian Streets
Raw: Volcano Erupts Near Mexico City
Raw: Heat, Spurs Back on Court Ahead of Game 7
Obama Renews Call for Nuclear Reductions
Fmr. TWA Flight 800 Investigators Want New Probe
Paula Deen Admits to Using N Word
Rihanna Hits Fan With Microphone
Men's Wearhouse Founder Fired
Miss Utah Explains Rambling Response
Exclusive: Locklear & Seymour Lock Lips
Miami Heat Wins in Overtime
Raw: Arizona Wildfire Scorches 8 Square Miles
Fists, chairs fly in restaurant brawl
Journalist Michael Hastings Dies in Fiery Hollywood Crash
Hairy Leg Stockings Aim to Deflect Male Attention
Inside Kim Kardashian's Premature Labor
Three Charged for Enslaving Mother and Daughter
Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park
Spurs' Popovich has no problem with Spurs' intensity
RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled
Paige Butcher Scorches on Hawaii Beach
Video: worst way to load cargo onto a plane
Never-before-seen footage of '08 Times Square bomber
