Indiana 2A Preview: Starfires Firing Higher?

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Want $10 off of your registration to our Freshman or Stock Up Showcase on July 27? Use code KypDig2025 at checkout!</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two classes down, two to go. We've taken the time to find the top ten teams from the previous season and preview their potential for this season, and class 2A might be the most "up in the air" class of the four when it comes to state championship possibilities. The Starfires of South Adams lead us off, and while they lose no part of their offense from last fall's 27-win campaign, is this year's version ready to get past the sectional?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">South Adams (27-6 in 2024)</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Starfires bring almost everyone back from their best season in recent memory, with eyes on advancing past the sectional, which is where their season ended unexpectedly last fall. Senior-heavy and super athletic, this group of leaders has multisport talent written all over them. <strong>Reagan Bollenbacher</strong> leads this feisty bunch in a number of ways, especially on the attack. <strong>Avery Brown </strong>does well as a pin attacker, and can put balls away from anywhere. The Starfires run a 6-2, and both return---<strong>Laney Trausch</strong> and <strong>Reagan Beitler</strong>---which should help solidify the leadership and offensive capabilities of this crew. Rising sophomore <strong>Reece Beitler</strong> might be the heir apparent to this group of seniors, but is producing a ton of offensive number right now, and should do more of the same to keep this squad in the 25+-win category. All of the kids listed above have athleticism and a solid acuity to anything physical, as multisport participation seems almost mandatory at South Adams. Even though they finished their season a little early last fall, watching them play showed what they could become, which should show up from the first whistle this fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Prediction: Is a semistate in the stars for the Starfires? Why not?</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hear me out. The <em>instant</em> the five-set upset loss to Woodlan happened last fall in the sectional, I'm guessing the coaching staff marked the calendar as to when they might see the Warriors again. There is a better than half possibility that they meet again in the sectional. South Adams returns all of the kids from the previous match, making them that much more experienced in high leverage matches. Woodlan, after their sectional championship, went on and MARCHED through the regional and the semis of the semi state before falling to eventual state champ Western Boone. This tells me that SA's <em>particular</em> draw might be the "easiest" of any coming out of their respective sectionals. And with Western Boone having a down year this fall....well, why not? Beat Woodlan, and who knows how far this can go?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->