2A Preview: #5-8

Moving through our high school previews in Indiana, we are now hitting up #5-8 in Class 2A. I would be shirking my duties if I didn’t give credit where credit was due. Zach McCrite, fellow ref, volley dork, and administrator of the IndianaPrepVolleyball.com website, has helped me extensively with all of these preview rankings. If you’re at all interested in Indiana high school volleyball, go check his site out. I will also include an MVR, or Most Valuable Returnee, for each team listed. Here we go! #8: Shenandoah, 26-10 Full disclosure: Shenandoah was in a dead heat with Tecumseh for eighth, but the Raiders’ strength of schedule pushed them to #8 alone. As far as the team is concerned, being from northeast of Indianapolis, they have more than enough opportunity to play whomever they can to get better. Even with their tougher-than-average schedule, they manage to pump out 20 wins a year consistently. However, with five seniors graduating, this might be too tall a task for the fall of 2020. MVR: Erikka Hill, ’21, 5-11, MB, Prep Dig NR Erikka is, without question, THE stud athlete, male or female, at Shenandoah. She’s more known for her basketball skills, and is also a thrower in track. But she’s more than a basketball player playing volleyball. Everyone in the gym knows her abilities, yet she’s still returning as #1 in kills and blocks while hitting near .400 on the season. That’s the definition of MVR. #7: Alexandria-Monroe, 18-13 Do not look at that record. This is a 2A school playing the equivalent of a 4A schedule (#44 in the state in SOS). They beat Shenandoah twice (2A #8) and Frankton twice (2A #12). Their schedule also included Cowan (1A state champ), Delta (3A #11), Muncie Burris (3A #4), McCutcheon (4A #8), Penn (4A #13) and Wapahani (2A #3). Whew. And all the Tigers lost in graduation was their setter. They return everyone else. I’m looking forward to this team in the fall of 2020. MVR: [player_tooltip player_id="101224" first="Kaitlyn" last="Bair"], ’21, 5-9, OH You may not have heard of this pin attacking stud, but she plays for Grant County Volleyball Club, a small regional club northeast of Indianapolis. Prior to this season, I had only heard of this club through reffing, and even then I only saw them play in the one-day regional tourneys in and around Indy. Her primary sport is softball, but is fully capable of carrying her own since she’s tops in kills and blocks for the Tigers. #6: Fairfield, 24-13 A Final Four run in the state championship with a whole bunch of youth coming back? The Falcons produce twenty wins annually, it seems. But have they ever had the year they had in 2019? A Final Four run? It will be hard to equal what Fairfield did in 2019, and with the loss of Ohio Northern signee Madeline Gawthrop, offense will have to come from somewhere. MVR: [player_tooltip player_id="96573" first="Madisyn" last="Steele"], ’21, 6-2, MB, Evansville commit Insert [player_tooltip player_id="96573" first="Madisyn" last="Steele"]. 6-2 on a 2A team makes you a giant. And as a Team Pineapple-trained kid, she’s skilled as well. Her numbers will be better this coming fall, simply because of the improving defenders around her to pass better than they have. Miss Steele’s name will appear on the next set of rankings in August. #5: Hagerstown, 28-4 Seven seniors. SOS #117. This was the year to make a run, but they ran into a buzzsaw called Heritage Christian in the regional semifinal on their way to a state championship. I’m not sure if the Tigers were fully prepared to see a bunch of big kids coming at them on October 26, 2019, but come at them they did. The hard part? 32 of Hagerstown’s 37 kills in that match just graduated. Is this a rebuild in 2020? MVR: Hallie Rogers, ’21, 5-8, S This three-sport star is the reason the Tigers even HAD 37 kills in three sets against the state champ. My concern is this; who is Miss Rogers going to set now that over 75% of your offense just graduated?