3A Rankings: The Early Top Five

<p>With a few weeks in the books in Indiana, we’ve got a few high schools that deserve some attention, with recruits in multiple classes making waves. Full disclosure: I received some help from a friend of mine, Zach McCrite, who is the main administrator of IndianaPrepVolleyball.com. If you’re at all interested in high school volleyball in the Hoosier State, check it out.</p> <p>Without further delay, here we go!</p> <p><strong>#5: Crawfordsville, 9-0</strong></p> <p>Beating a few 4As and #2 3A Benton Central this early in the season gets you on the list. It has been a bit since the Athenians have been this good this early, so it was important to mention them here. Unranked going into the preseason, we really like the play of Circle City-trained <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="85912" first="Macy" last="Bruton"] (’23, 5-11, DS/OH), </strong>who shouldn’t ever come out for Crawfordsville. She’s listed as a DS because she trained as such at Circle. This type of training saves her shoulder for attacking in the fall, which has her averaging almost seven kills per set while hitting over .300. She’s also responsible for roughly 40% of her team’s aces, leads the team in digs, and receives the lion’s share of serve receptions.</p> <p><strong>#4: Greensburg, 9-0</strong></p> <p>Also unranked going into this season, the Pirates have many that are both multisport athletes and play club ball. Some of the travel ball they play keeps them close to home, which is why some of their names go unknown. What they do have is a bunch of size, starting with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="93687" first="Anna" last="West"] (’21, 6-1, MB/OH). </strong>Her 29 kills last week against perennial thorn Lawrenceburg was huge for a team that has a ton of youth mixed with size, skill and experience. Miss West is averaging five kills per set, hits over .350, and is also being used in serve receive to see some more attacks on the pin. We also like <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="85922" first="Josie" last="Nobbe"] (’23, 6-0, OH) </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="106295" first="Ella" last="Chapman"] (’23, 6-3, RS/MB). </strong>Size indeed.</p> <p><strong>#3: Mount Vernon (Posey), 9-0</strong></p> <p>So, I guess nine straight wins to start the season is the cool thing to do in 3A. Ranked #15 in our preseason list, the Wildcats move all the way up to #3 while only dropping two sets so far, both to preseason 2A #13 Evansville Mater Dei. Their truest test to date is tonight’s match when they host preseason 3A #3 Evansville Reitz (5-1). Our x-factor in this match will be with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="104214" first="Grace" last="Schroeder"] (’23, 5-11, MB). </strong>With six seniors and no juniors, the Wildcats need help from their underclassmen, and there’s no time like the present.</p> <p><strong>#2: Benton Central, 8-1</strong></p> <p>OK, so we broke the streak, oddly enough by #5 Crawfordsville on this list. But 8-1 is still an excellent start to an odd year that 2020 has become. The Bison also came into this season unranked, but with wins over Lafayette Harrison, Lafayette Central Catholic and Lafayette Jefferson, they’ve caught our attention in the early going. <strong>Sienna Foster (’24, 5-9, OH)</strong> is a nice fit on the pin for BC, as her three kills per set and over .300 attack puts her in the top two on her team in both categories. A matchup next week against West Lafayette and in October against McCutcheon will be great gauges for their rapid rise.</p> <p><strong>#1: Muncie Burris, 7-2</strong></p> <p>I can hear the squawking already. What?!? A two-loss team in the top spot?!? Hold on, Karen. Their losses are to Valparaiso and Penn, the latter being one of the largest high schools in the state and in our top five tomorrow (spoiler alert, not sorry.). You can’t be the best until you beat the best, and playing them is part of the Owls’ M.O. when it comes to development. Also coming up on their schedule is Delta, Wapahani, Yorktown and defending 4A state champ New Castle, just to name a few. None of the previous four teams listed here should ever make a claim that their schedule is as tough as Muncie Burris’ is. That being said, we really like how <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="103403" first="Abigail" last="Kesler"] (’22, 5-11, MB) </strong>is the focal point of the offense, having more than double the next most kills on her team. #1 in kills, hitting percentage and blocks? Yes please.</p>