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No area teams receive byes
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
No RTC area volleyball teams won a sectional last year, and no area teams received the benefit of a bye if they would like to turn that around this year, per the IHSAA draw Sunday.
Sectionals will be held Oct. 13-17, regionals are Oct. 24, semistates are Oct. 31, and the IHSAA state finals will be held for the second straight year at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Nov. 7.
Sectional tickets are $8 per session or $20 for an all-sectional ticket. Area sectional host sites include Rochester in Class 2A and Culver in Class 1A.
Regional tickets are $10 per session. Culver is among the eight regional sites in the north.
Semistate tickets are $12 per session, and state finals tickets are $20.
Here is how the draw stacked up for area teams:
Rochester
Rochester will face Peru in a Class 2A, Sectional 38 quarterfinal at approximately 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at the RHS gym. The winner will play Oak Hill, who received a bye, in the semifinals.
In the other half of the draw, Maconaquah drew Lewis Cass with the winner to face Eastern (Greentown).
Rochester defeated Peru in four sets at Tig-Arena in their conference match Sept. 3.
Peru, who has moved down from Class 3A due to a drop in enrollment, has won eight sectional titles in its history but none since 1995.
Oak Hill has a regular season win over Maconaquah and a loss to Eastern. At 21-4, Eastern has the best record in the sectional, but Maconaquah has the best rating, per IndianaPrepVolleyball.com.
Tippecanoe Valley
Valley will begin their quest for their first sectional title in school history when they face Columbia City at approximately 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 in a Class 3A, Sectional 20 quarterfinal at West Noble.
The winner will face West Noble in the semifinals.
Valley (14-15) does not play Columbia City (16-11) during the regular season.
In the other half of the draw, NorthWood drew Wawasee with the winner to face Fairfield, who received a bye, in the semifinals.
NorthWood has won seven consecutive sectional titles, but they lost in three sets to West Noble Sept. 15.
West Noble also has sweeps over Fairfield and Valley.
Caston, Pioneer
South Newton has won two straight sectionals and six sectionals in the last seven years.
Caston and Pioneer will be among the teams looking to break the Lady Rebels’ vice grip on Class 1A, Sectional 50.
In a bit of ping pong ball deja vu, the draw is the same as last year.
Caston will start with a quarterfinal match against DeMotte Christian Oct. 13. Caston drew the Lady Knights one day after beating them in a best-of-three match at the Caston Invitational. The DeMotte Christian-Caston winner will face the West Central-South Newton winner in the semifinals.
In the other half of the bracket, Tri-County will face North Newton, and North White will take on Pioneer.
North White (15-10) and Pioneer (18-10) do not play each other during the regular season. North White has beaten Tri-County three times but lost twice each to West Central and South Newton. North White also has regular season matches this week with North Newton and DeMotte Christian.
Pioneer, who plays South Central (Union Mills), Benton Central and West Lafayette, has beaten Caston twice but otherwise has not played anybody else in the sectional.
Argos, Culver
For the second straight year, Argos (5-18) drew North Judson (9-18) in their Class 1A, Sectional 51 opener at Culver on Oct. 13.
Argos has not won a sectional title since 1973 and not won a sectional match since 2002.
The Argos-North Judson winner will face Oregon-Davis, who received a bye, in the semifinals. Argos’ regular season match against O-D is this Wednesday at Phil Weybright Gymnasium.
In the other half of the bracket, Tri-Township drew Triton, and Elkhart Christian drew Culver with both of those matches to be played Oct. 15.
Triton is currently leading the Hoosier North at 7-0, and they are the defending regional champions.
Meanwhile, Elkhart Christian (15-12) swept Culver (13-11) in three sets last week in their regular season meeting.
North Miami
North Miami, seeking their first sectional title since 2002 when current coach Brianne Chumbley was a player on the team, will open Class 1A, Sectional 55 play with a quarterfinal against Southern Wells at Cowan Oct. 13.
Southern Wells, rated No. 13 by IndianaPrepVolleyball.com, is 17-9 and led by junior outside hitter Abbie Powell, who has verbally committed to play at Ohio State.
North Miami, who has no seniors, has gone 8-4 since a 4-9 start, but they have lost their last two matches to North Judson and Pioneer.
The North Miami-Southern Wells winner will play Northfield, who got a bye, in the semifinals.
In the other half of the bracket, Madison-Grant will play Daleville and Wes-Del will take on Cowan.
Winamac
Winamac has already doubled their win total from seven last year to 14 this year and will look to improve on that number when they play Knox in a Class 2A, Sectional 34 quarterfinal at Bremen Oct. 15.
Knox is 13-13 this year after going 12-18 last year.
Winamac has not won a sectional title since 2014 and a sectional match since 2020.
The Knox-Winamac winner will play the South Central-South Bend Career Academy winner in the semifinals.
In the other half of the draw, two-time defending sectional champion Jimtown received a bye and will await the LaVille-Bremen winner in the semifinals.
