This Week's Top Five In 1A: Under The Radar

<p>We're at that time of year where the cream has risen, and most of the teams we're talking about this week are the usual suspects in their respective classes. None of these teams are flying under the radar, but each team has a few athletes that don't get as much attention as they should. Here are our top five this week, and the kids that helped them get there.</p>   <h2>#5: Frontier (15-5, NR last week)</h2>   <p>Welcome to the top five, Falcons! Winners of seven matches in a row, Frontier has a mostly undersized squad that has unfortunately been overlooked by this author. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='155569' first='Emma' last='Segal'] ('24, 5-6 DS/L)</strong> is best known for her ball control, but leads her high school squad in kills per set and total kills, racking up nearly five per set. Someone has to get her the ball, so look no further than <strong>Emily Bell ('24, 5-5 S)</strong>, another undersized and under appreciated player that averages nine assists per set and runs a 5-1 with the best of them.</p>   <h2>#4: South Newton (23-1, #1 last week)</h2>   <p>A tough Saturday tournament loss to 4A Guerin Catholic knocked the Rebels from the ranks of the unbeaten, but not out of our top five. This squad is primed for a strong run through the postseason, as the southern half is the tougher of the two draws. Unheralded <strong>Stephanie Montemayer ('23, 5-10 MB/RS)</strong> is the size teams covet at this level, and her team lead in blocks proves it. <strong>Abigail Carroll ('23, 5-5 DS/L)</strong> has a knack for being around the ball on first contact, and wears the libero jersey with pride. She leads all Rebels in digs.</p>   <h2>#3: Tecumseh (18-2, #2 last week)</h2>   <p>I can hear the all-caps typing now----"We didn't lose!!! How come we dropped?!?" Well, for one, it's not your fault that you had two easy conference wins this week. That hurt your strength of schedule (look at Trinity Lutheran), and the real season doesn't start until October anyway, right? There are a couple of programs in the southern half of Indiana to go against, and you have your sights set on Springs Valley this evening, making the match in French Lick the biggest draw this week. I'm a fan of the Marx kids at Tecumseh. <strong>Bri Marx ('23, 5-11 RS/MB)</strong> is an efficiency machine, hitting over .400 while adding two kills per set this season. <strong>Katelyn Marx ('25, 5-9 RS/OH)</strong> is solid in ball control, averaging three digs per set.</p>   <h2>#2: Trinity Lutheran (13-5, #4 last week)</h2>   <p>And here is where strength of schedule comes into play. The Cougars knocked off 3A power Silver Creek last week for their lone match, just adding to the mantle the number of significantly larger schools TL has defeated this season. There are reasons the Cougars are <em>always</em> in the conversation for a state title every year, and getting accustomed to high-level volleyball is one of them. Younger kids on this roster are showing some exceptional play this fall. <strong>Laura Roeder</strong> is a sophomore libero averaging nearly seven (!!!) digs per set, while fellow sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='160069' first='Addison' last='Darlage'] </strong>runs a very efficient 5-1 offense to the tune of ten assists per set.</p>   <h2>#1: Springs Valley (17-3, #3 last week)</h2>   <p>The Blackhawks won four more matches last week, and show no signs of slowing down. As mentioned above, tonight's match against Tecumseh will be the biggest one of the week in 1A, and SV hosts. Two additional athletes should get a bunch of publicity after this one. <strong>Molly Tucker </strong> wears the special jersey, and is the first contact kid needed to be successful regularly. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='145467' first='Alayna' last='Denbo'] ('23, 6-2 MB)</strong> has unmatched size in 1A, and has a hand (literally) in changing attackers minds about blasting away low to the net.</p>   <p></p>

We're at that time of year where the cream has risen, and most of the teams we're talking about this week are the usual suspects in their respective classes. None of these teams are flying under the radar, but each team has a few athletes that don't get as much attention as they should. Here are our top five this week, and the kids that helped them get there.