Reigning 4A state champ Hamilton Southeastern upended Bellmont and Carroll in straight sets over the weekend, showing there’s still some room to improve even for our top teams.
- Carroll (12-1): The loss to HSE stings, but the Chargers now know what lies ahead of them in their quest to make it to state. Carroll had a busy week, going 4-1 and winning in straight sets in all four of those victories. Another big match lies ahead on Thursday at home against Dwenger.
- Homestead (10-2): If the block of Savy Walker and Alyssa Hall play as well as they did on Thursday at Dwenger, the Spartans are a big threat to make a deep postseason run. Sparty’s biggest local match to date is on tap for Tuesday in Decatur.
- Bellmont (10-4): Again, there’s a reason why HSE went undefeated last season en route to the state championship. The Braves got a good taste of what the highest level of volleyball is like in 4A this past weekend. A win at home against Homestead on Tuesday could get the Braves right back on track.
- Angola (6-1): The Hornets jumped out to a 2-0 start in the NECC, taking down Farifield and an 8-2 West Noble squad. Three more matches coming up this week, including two more conference battles with Westview and Central Noble. The biggest match of the week though is Wednesday night at home against sectional opponent Concordia.
- Woodlan (7-0): The schedule has been pretty favorable so far for the Warriors, but you can only play who is in front of you. Fortunately, Woodlan travels to Leo on Tuesday night for its biggest test of the season. This group has a ton of depth and coach Rydell should be proud of how his Warriors have started the year.
- Leo (7-3): The Lions seven match win streak was snapped at the Cage on Wednesday as Concordia is starting to find its groove. Leo’s five set win over Dwenger a couple weeks ago keeps them in the sixth spot for this week, but we need to see more from this group this week with Woodlan and Blackhawk Christian on the schedule.
- Southwood (10-0): All the reigning state champs from 1A have done is win. Win win win win. I don’t foresee that changing any time soon as the Knights have dropped just one set all season. Is there a chance Southwood goes undefeated during the regular season? Too early to say, but it is not out of the realm of possibility.
- South Adams (12-1): Junior Reagan Bollenbacher and freshman Reece Beitler are the two leading the attack for the Starfires in the early portion of the year. South Adams is averaging more than four aces per set and, much like Southwood, the schedule that lies ahead seems favorable.
- Bishop Dwenger (3-3): Just one match last week for Dwenger – a 3-0 loss at the hands of Homestead. Unfortunately, the Saints haven’t played a ton of matches! I really think this Saints squad can win a sectional title, but they may have the fewest matches played of any team in their sectional once the year is over, which feels like a bad thing to me. Dwenger travels to Norwell Tuesday and Carroll on Thursday.
- Concordia (4-7): Talk about a loaded schedule to start the year for the Cadets. Cienna Lapsley has been impressive to kick off the season, averaging nearly three kills per set and hitting .324. Sophomore Sydney Blackwell has taken a big jump in her second year at the varsity level and will be a big problem for local teams for the next three seasons.
This weeks volleyball schedule on Summit City Sports:
Monday, 9/9: Bishop Luers at Woodlan | Tuesday, 9/10: Homestead at Bellmont | Wednesday, 9/11: Concordia at Angola | Thursday, 9/12: Bishop Luers at Wayne
