Steve Fields
Tribune-Star Correspondent
AVON —
Asked to name the Terre Haute South Braves’ best and worst matches in the Avon Volleyball Invitational, coach Maddison Minnick answered the same match.
South earned wins over Greenwood, Jennings County and Perry Meridian, but the one loss to Class 4A No. 6-ranked Avon was the big one that got away.
“Game 1 and the majority of Game 3 [against Avon], we were playing pretty good volleyball. We were keeping the unforced errors to a minimum. Our defense was there. We were playing systems and hanging right with them,” Minnick said.
“Unforced errors just got out of control [in Game 2].”
Northview coach Scott McDonald left Avon High School very disappointed. The Knights were 1-3 on the day, beating Franklin before losing to Avon, Greenwood and Indianapolis North Central. The Knights entered the tournament 4-1 and left 5-4.
“We were sloppy all day. Ball control and defense is what we have to live by and today we just were not very good,” McDonald said.
South won its pool to open the day, topping Greenwood in straight sets 25-21, 28-18 behind the combined 21 kills of Madison Steward and Taylor Haynes. Then the Braves overpowered Jennings County 25-15, 25-13 with Taylor Hayne making nine kills, while coming up with five digs.
By winning its pool, South got to play Avon, the second state-ranked team the Braves have faced.
South won the first game 25-19 over Avon, with Steward hammering seven kills. The Orioles attacked the Braves from the left outside hitter position early in the match, but South’s Marissa Coutinho filled the gap, coming up with 11 digs for the three-game match.
Avon dominated Game 2 by a 25-9 score, as South made error after error.
But either team could have won Game 3.
Playing to 15 points by two, instead of 25 points by two, the Braves took an early 4-1 lead and were 12-6 up on a kill by Steward. But the Orioles rallied to tie the score 12-12. The last tie was 14-14.
But Minnick likes where the Braves are at this point of the season.
“It’s still very, very early in the season, so I am very pleased with where we are. I wish [the] Avon [match] would have ended a little bit differently. I wish we would have been on the other end of the 14-16 third game, but we are doing the right kind of things right now,” Minnick said.
Northview is still making the transition to setter Briana Cook, as senior Hannah Hayes is out with a knee injury. The transition looked pretty good Thursday, but not so much Saturday.
“I thought Cook played pretty well, considering she had to chase the ball all over the gym half the time. We just didn’t play well in serve receive. We’ve just got to do a better job of putting the ball in play and giving ourselves a chance to swing,” McDonald said.
Every opponent hammered the much smaller Knights at the net, testing the digging skills of Ashley Buck and Audrey Clark all day. Clark had four digs against Franklin. Buck came up with 14 digs against Avon, 12 against Greenwood and 17 against North Central.
“I thought Ashlen Buck and Audrey Clark both played great defense all day, but when they have to sit back there [on the back row] and take bomb after bomb, eventually its going to wear them down,” McDonald said.
“We’re not big, but we should be able to get more touches [at the net] than what we did.”
Northview finished second in its pool. The Knights beat Franklin 25-19, 28-26 with Cook passing out 12 assists and Brylie Riddell making seven kills. But No. 6-ranked Avon overpowered the Knights 25-17, 25-10.
Outside of pool play, the Knights lost to Greenwood in three games 15-25, 25-19, 15-13. Cook had 28 assists in the match with Riddell making 15 kills and Kaylee Clark eight.
Like the match with Greenwood, the Knights let North Central slip away 24-26, 25-23, 15-12.
Terre Haute South 25 25
Greenwood 21 18
Highlights — For South, Madison Steward put down 11 kills and Taylor Hayne 10, while Sloan Stephens dished out 14 assists and served 4 aces. Hayne led the Braves with 12 digs.
Terre Haute South 25 25
Jennings County 15 13
Highlights — Hayne led the Braves with 9 kills and 5 digs, while Stephens and Ashley Bazier each passed out 11 assists.
Terre Haute South 25 9 14
Avon 19 25 16
Highlights — The Braves led the third game 10-5 before losing 16-14. Steward led Terre Haute South with 13 kills. Stephens and Bazier each passed out 9 assists.
Terre Haute South 25 25
Perry Meridian 23 18
Highlights — South came from behind in both games to win. Hayne led the Braves with 8 kills and 7 digs and Steward contributed 5 kills, Brazier finished with 8 assists and Stephens 7.
Northview 25 28
Franklin 19 26
Highlights — For Northview, Brylie Riddell had 7 kills and 3 blocks, while Briana Cook passed out 12 assists. Kaylee Clark served 4 aces and came up with 4 digs.
Northview 17 10
Avon 25 25
Highlights — Lizzie Emmert and Shelbie Morris led the Knights’ net game with 6 kills each, while Cook distributed 10 kills. Ashlen Buck had 14 digs.
Northview 25 19 13
Greenwood 15 25 15
Highlights — Riddell paced Northview with 15 kills, Cook passed out 28 assists and Buck came up with 12 digs.
Northview 26 23 12
North Central 24 25 15
Highlights — No more than 5 points ever separated the two teams during the three-game match. Riddell led the Knights with 8 kills and Cook passed out 21 assists. Buck made 17 digs and served 3 aces.
Next — South (5-3) will host Sullivan on Tuesday. Northview (5-3) will host Linton on Thursday.
