COVINGTON — Getting big hits, digs and passes from seven different players, the Rockville Rox moved into the championship game of the Class A high school volleyball sectional at Covington on Saturday morning.
Rockville (25-4), the defending sectional champ, topped Riverton Parke 3-1 and will play Attica (4-23) in the championship game Saturday night.
Rockville, the defending sectional champion, topped Riverton Parke 25-12, 23-25, 26-24 and 25-10 to advance. Riverton Parke finished the season 17-13.
It was the third time Rockville and Riverton Parke played this season. “We spent [Friday] practicing hitting to where we thought the openings would be and on serve receive because [Riverton Parke] had good servers,” Rockville coach Jennifer Pakiz said.
While Beth Mahurin led Rockville with 22 kills, the net play of Ashley Stevens and Raeann Sutherlin were big keys. When Mahurin rotated to the back row, it was Stevens and Sutherlin who combined for 13 kills. Eldridge passed out 34 assists to the hitters.
“[Rockville] has got a good team. They are more than just Beth [Mahurin],” Riverton Parke coach John Memmer said.
Riverton Parke served 12 aces, six coming from Elizabeth Dickey. The Panthers also got a strong net game from Sara Dickey, who had six kills and two blocks. Ketelynn Rewers passed out 16 assists.
“I’m really proud of my team. It was a close, tight game that could have gone either way,” Memmer said.
After splitting the first two games, the two teams locked into a point-for-point battle in game three. The score was tied 15-15 when Riverton Parke went ahead 21-16 with a Sara Dickey kill and the aid of two Rockville service faults.
Rockville scored the next five points, tying the game 21-21, then pulling out the 26-24 when on a block and kill by Mahurin and a Riverton Parke hitting error.
“I don’t think we’ve ever come back from that big a deficit,” Pakiz said.
Rockville’s victory rally too the gas out of Riverton Parke. The Rox dominated game four to advance, 25-10.
“When you lose a tight game like that and when you have a young team, it can effect them,” Memmer said.
North Vermillion beat Attica during the regular season, but couldn’t continue that string in the tournament.
North Vermillion scored the first five points of the match, going ahead 5-0, but rarely led again, as Attica won 25-17, 25-19, 25-22.
Attica tied game one 7-7 and pulled away, as North Vermillion struggled with its offense. Attica jumped out to a 6-2 lead in game two and never looked back.
North Vermillion tried to extend its season in game three. The score was tied at 10 on a Jessica Astin service ace and 12 on a Attica error. The Red Ramblers took the lead for good at 13-12 and led 19-13 when the Falcons made the last rally of the season.
The Falcons closed to within a point, 21-20, but could not get the tying hit.
Riverton Parke 12 25 24 10
Rockville 25 23 26 25
Highlights — For Riverton Parke, Sara Dickey had six kills and two blocks; Ketelynn Rewers passed out 16 assists, served four aces and made two kills; Sheldan Falls had five kills, an ace and 20 digs; and Haley Chambers had 30 digs, two kills and one ace. For Rockville, Beth Mahurin finished with 22 kills, made four blocks and served four aces; Raeann Sutherlin had seven kills, two aces and seven digs; Ashley Stevens and Emily Hardman made six kills each; Courtney Eldridge passed out 34 assists and served four aces and Lindsey Greene came up with 23 digs.
Attica 25 25 25
North Vermillion 17 19 22
Highlights — For North Vermillion, Kylee West had four kills and Darby Martin three kills and 11 digs; Jessica Astin had 10 digs. For Attica, Mariah Davis had seven kills and Jessica Holtkamp had six kills and served five aces.
Next — Rockville (25-4) played Attica (4-23) in the sectional championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday. Riverton Parke finished the season 17-13 and North Vermillion closed at 7-18.
High School
NEW: Rockville advances to Class A volleyball sectional championship
- High School
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It’s a rivalry-filled Memorial Day for sectional contenders
Longtime rivalries figure to determine high school baseball sectional champions throughout the Wabash Valley today, with semifinal and final games scheduled at four sites and a stand-alone championship game at a fifth.
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South tops Oldenburg to win tennis semistate
There was no evidence of rally caps, rally towels and certainly no rally squirrels, but Terre Haute South’s No. 1 singles player Maddie Kesler needed a rally in the worst way.
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New route leads to same place for South girls tennis
For so many years, the road to the IHSAA girls tennis state finals for local teams ran through Vincennes (regional) and Jasper (semistate). In other words, south and more south.
This year, their trip was re-routed through Greencastle (regional) and Center Grove (semistate). So it cnahged to east and more east. -
PREP ROUNDUP: Robinson tops Greenville in sectional semifinal
Robinson jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, then cruised to a convincing 12-3 victory over Greenville in a IHSA Class 2A Vandalia sectional semifinal game on Thursday.
Ashlyn Sullivan was 2 for 3 with a double, home run and three RBIs to lead the winning Maroons. -
West Vigo baseball falls in sectional to Owen Valley
West Vigo overcame the odds to win 20 high school baseball games this season with a lineup that often included four freshmen and few seniors.
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South Vermillion softball's late-season surge comes to end
A late-season surge by South Vermillion wasn’t quite enough to halt a high school softball sectional winning streak by the host team Thursday night, as Edgewood got on top early and held on for a 5-2 win in the championship game of the Class 3A Edgewood Sectional.
The loss was just the second in the last 12 games for the Wildcats. The Mustangs, however, haven’t lost a sectional softball game for eight years in a row. -
South takes second, North third at boys track regional
Terre Haute South finished second and Terre Haute North third on Thursday night at the boys track and field regional at Evansville Central, with 11 individuals and three relay teams qualifying for the state finals June 2.
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PREP ROUNDUP: White River Valley baseball holds off Eminence
Three Eminence errors in the top of the sixth inning finally enabled White River Valley to score in high school baseball Thursday night, and the Wolverines went on to a 5-0 win in Class A Shakamak Sectional action.
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Feeling cursed: South bitten in sectional final again
Terre Haute South softball is not even close to being as cursed as a certain northside baseball team in Chicago, but it might just seem like it.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Mundy, Porter, Knight individual regional winners
Chanli Mundy and Keirra Porter of Terre Haute North were among the individual winners in the IHSAA Evansville Central girls track and field regional that ended late Tuesday night.
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Thornton puts away South Vermillion
Cody Thornton’s three-run blast over the left-field fence was the finishing touch to West Vigo’s 10-3 victory over South Vermillion in the opening game of the Class 3A Greencastle Sectional on Wednesday.
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Lakers triumph, go home for regional
Shakamak took Class A Clay City Sectional honors in high school softball for the first time since 2009 Wednesday, defeating White River Valley 9-5 in the title tilt.
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North Vermillion avenges losses
North Vermillion avenged two high school softball losses during the regular season to win the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional championship Wednesday with a 3-2 triumph over the host Panthers.
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Pats, Knights will meet in sectional
Adler Ingalsbe pooh-poohed his lack of velocity Wednesday night, yet the Terre Haute North pitcher was throwing BBs in the first game compared to Mooresville’s Brandon Topie in the nightcap.
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South outbattles Northview to reach sectional final
Even the best of high school softball pitchers can’t keep all the batters in the middle of Terre Haute South’s lineup down.
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Panthers get 20th win in sectional
Riverton Parke will face North Vermillion in the Class A softball sectional championship at Riverton Parke today, with action commencing at 6 p.m.
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Plainfield Sectional all about parity
Considering Terre Haute South has won five consecutive Class 4A sectional titles in high school baseball, naming the Braves as favorites to capture the 2012 Class 4A Plainfield Sectional would not seem far-fetched.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North Vermillion in title game
Casey West had a triple and three runs scored to help North Vermillion softball advance to the championship game of the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional on Tuesday.
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North takes second in track regional
Terre Haute North finished second with 74 points, six behind team champion Evansville Reitz, during the Evansville Central girls track and field regional that ended late Tuesday night.
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Wildcats advance to sectional softball final; West Vigo falls
Patience, patience.
South Vermillion exhibited great patience, being very selective at the plate and it paid off royally in the fourth inning. -
South, Crawfordsville win in regional tennis semis
Terre Haute South outlasted Fountain Central 4-1 in the first round of the girls high school tennis regional Tuesday, advancing the Braves into today’s championship match against Crawfordsville.
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Braves, Knights open with wins
It was an excellent night for starting softball pitchers to help their own cause Monday night in the Class 4A Northview Sectional.
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Lough dreamt about McMillan
A two-time state finalist in wrestling and a two-time all-Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference football player and wrestler, Tsali Lough of Terre Haute South was named the male recipient of the 2012 McMillan Award on Monday night at South’s Senior Awards Night.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Panthers cruise in sectional opener
Sarah Burnham pitched a two-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts in high school softball Monday evening as host Riverton Parke defeated defending champion Rockville 10-0 in opening-round action at the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional.
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Notable tradition bodes well for Riverton Parke
Located practically in the shadow of a high school that sets one state standard in track and field, Riverton Parke has a tendency to be overlooked in that sport.
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Vikings get 18th win over Shakamak
West Vigo began a busy week of high school baseball Monday on a winning note, defeating Shakamak 6-3.
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Greencastle new site for girls tennis regional
The starting times might prove to be a bone of contention, but otherwise coaches Bill Blankenbaker and Emily Goff are thrilled their respective girls high school tennis teams will begin play today at the Greencastle Regional.
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Northview sectional groups 3 20-win teams
Three teams with 20-plus victories will attempt to claim the Class 4A Northview Sectional crown for high school softball this week, and most of the other Wabash Valley sectional fields also appear to be wide open.
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Terre Haute South softball takes Riverton Parke tournament
Terre Haute South is going into the Class 4A Sectional at Northview on Monday with momentum, confidence, a deep bench and a healthier pitching staff than it has had in quite a while.
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North baseball splits doubleheader with Indy North Central
Some of their incentive could have been sapped a couple of nights earlier, when Center Grove achieved an eight-inning victory over Warren Central to clinch the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball championship.
- More High School Headlines
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