Indiana 1A State Title Match Recap

<p>Ending earlier than most, Indiana’s high school volleyball season is now complete. All four classes play on the same day in Worthen Arena on the campus of Ball State. At the time of the move from Butler being the host, it seemed a good idea, since there was always a team from the Muncie area in the finals. This is the first year since I can remember that none of the eight teams vying for a championship was from Muncie. </p> <p>That being said, here are the teams, results, and top players from our 1A title match.</p> <p><strong>#3 Lafayette Central Catholic (27-9) def. #1 Trinity Lutheran (30-5), 3-2 (30-28, 18-25, 17-25, 25-12, 15-7)</strong></p> <p>Why not start off the day with an epic comeback? TL had been in this position before---they lost in another epic five set title match in 2019 to Cowan. This time around, the Cougars had the lead, only to let it slip away. I was impressed with the play and maturity of <strong>Kassidy Boener (’22, 5-7 OH/DS), </strong>who led all players with 20 kills. As a primary passing outside, Kassidy controlled all aspects of the game, adding to a double-double with 18 digs. ’Bro <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="155571" first="Rachel" last="Vorst"] (’24, 5-5 DS/L)</strong> set a state finals record for all classes with 41 digs. Setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="154812" first="Kaitlyn" last="Kuckkan"] (’25, 5-6 S)</strong><strong>, </strong>when the Knights passed well, had a chance to run her 5-1 offense to perfection, especially in the last two sets, where LCC hit over .300 collectively when it counted. She finished with 42 assists, 15 digs and 4 aces.</p> <p>As for the Cougars, a third (2011, 2019) state runner-up trophy is an exceptional accomplishment, as there are many in the state that will never get this far, let alone be <em>this</em> close to glory. Leading the Cougars was <strong>Ruthie Bingham (’22, 5-8 OH)</strong> with 17 kills to go along with 12 digs. Libero <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="93748" first="Kamzi" last="Gross"] (’22, 5-5 DS/L)</strong> led TL with 26 digs. Another freshman setter, <strong>Addison Darlage (’25, 5-5 S)</strong> did what she could with sub-par passing and added a match-high 49 assists to go with her 10 digs, 2 blocks, 2 kills and an ace.</p>