1A Preview: #1-4

<p>We wrap up our 1A preview for Indiana with numbers #1-4. I wouldn’t be able to do any of these articles without the help of Zach McCrite, administrator of IndianaPrepVolleyball.com and fellow referee. If you’re at all interested in Indiana high school volleyball, feel free to check his site out, you won’t be disappointed.</p> <p>I’m also going to add in an MVR, or Most Valuable Returnee, for each team listed below. Enjoy!</p> <p><strong>#4: Pioneer, 29-6</strong></p> <p>To come all the way back from an 0-2 deficit in the regional final against #7 Morgan Township was epic. The 15-3 loss in the fifth was heartbreaking. But, there is a silver lining to all of this; the Panthers graduate exactly one player, and she wasn’t much of a factor in the ’19 season. More good news? Morgan Township graduated seven from their team that saw time in the regional final. A ton of youth and all of your starters coming back? Things are looking up indeed.</p> <p><strong>MVR: [player_tooltip player_id="101316" first="Madison" last="Blickenstaff"], ’21, 5-10, MB/OH</strong></p> <p>This three-sport stud of an athlete went toe-to-toe with Purdue commit [player_tooltip player_id="85682" first="Emily" last="Rastovski"] in the regional final by matching her 26 kills. She’ll be joined by a ton of youth in the next two graduating classes, as it appears that all of these kids play basketball and softball together. A ton of athletes coming back to a 29 win team? Sign me up.</p> <p><strong>#3: Loogootee, 26-6</strong></p> <p>Pronounced luh-GO-tee, this team only graduates one player of any consequence from a team that made a regional semifinal appearance and actually took a game off of Trinity Lutheran on their way to the state final. Their losses also include Barr-Reeve twice (2A top five) and Castle (4A #12). The scheduling is there, the talent is there; can they get over the hump of the regionals?</p> <p><strong>MVR: [player_tooltip player_id="101317" first="Makenzie" last="VanHoy"] (’21, 5-8, OH, Metro) and [player_tooltip player_id="101318" first="Kylie" last="VanHoy"] (’22, 5-10, S, Evansville United)</strong></p> <p>These two do the lions’ share of the work during the fall (yeah, sorry about the dad joke.). At least one of them is #1 or #2 in every stat column for Loogootee except for digs, in which they’re listed as third and fourth, respectively. I have Kylie ranked a little higher on the upcoming ’22 list than Makenzie on the ’21 list because of the level of training Kylie receives in club and her size. However, one does not exist without the other during high school season, as the pair average over six kills per set, over an ace per set, a block per set and over four digs per set. With five seniors on the 2020 squad, let’s hope it’s a record year for the Lions.</p> <p><strong>#2: Cowan, 30-4</strong></p> <p>The defending state champ had exactly ZERO losses to anyone in Class 1A in 2019. That being said, Cowan didn’t exactly get challenged on their way to the state title---they didn’t drop a set until the final itself to Trinity Lutheran. Loogootee (1A #3) is in the southern half and traditional powers Lafayette Central Catholic (1A #5) and Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian (1A #9) both got knocked out early.  Everyone returns to this team for 2020, but do they know how hard it is to repeat?</p> <p><strong>MVR: [player_tooltip player_id="85735" first="Gracie" last="Conway"], ’21, 5-10, OH</strong></p> <p>To repeat at the state final, you need to have all of your pieces back. With the graduation of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="101372" first="Martina" last="DeMarchi"] (’20, 5-8, OH, Indiana Wesleyan signee), </strong>your #1 attacker and #1 server just left. That leaves us with Miss Conway, a Munciana kid who will have to, quite literally, shoulder the load for the Blackhawks.</p> <p>Edit: I had Miss DeMarchi as a 2021 in a previous version of this article. My apologies to all involved for my error.</p> <p><strong>#1: Trinity Lutheran, 30-6</strong></p> <p>Like Cowan, the Cougars had ZERO 1A losses prior to the state final. A huge comeback being down 0-2 in the state final, only to be heartbroken in set five is probably a taste in TL’s mouth that they’d like to wash out. My reasoning for TL in the top spot is simple; it is just too hard to repeat a state championship anymore. Too many kids play club, too many variables, too many things happen. And in a year where COVID is king, anything can happen. TL doesn’t graduate anyone either, by the way. This should be a fun rematch.</p> <p><strong>MVR: Kennedy Hoffman, ’21, 5-11, OH and Sydney Jaynes, ’21, 6-2, MB</strong></p> <p>TL has what most teams covet, size. Why bother worrying about the block when you can go over them? Why worry about other attackers when you can block everyone? These two average almost six kills per set, hitting over .300 in the process. They also total well past a block per set, which is a ton in 1A. If they could receive serve better in set five last fall, we’d be talking about the Cougars hoisting the trophy, and not the Blackhawks. To me, this is Trinity Lutheran’s year. </p>