Way Too Early Preview; Indiana 3A

<p>Continuing on our unbelievably early preview of the 2020 high school season in Indiana, we look at the second-largest class of schools in 3A. We’ll touch on the top four from last season and a possible dark horse candidate to make a run, and each will have a prospect that should be on your radar.</p> <p><strong>Brownstown Central, 33-5</strong></p> <p>Finally---FINALLY---is the resounding cry for the Braves. They’ve been on the doorstep of the state title in multiple classes for so many years, I haven’t known a time when they HAVEN’T been competitive enough to be in the conversation. Their four-set victory over Bellmont marked the end of an outstanding career for four seniors, but their two best return. Setter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="93747" first="Reagan" last="Nuss"] (Cougar VBC, ’22, 5-6, S) </strong>has been running the show for two seasons now, and doesn’t look to ever relinquish the spot until after she graduates. Joining her on the 3A All-State team is <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="93744" first="Kendra" last="McCory"] (Cougar VBC, ’21, 6-1, MB), </strong>the legitimate heart-and-soul type of player, finishing with 22 kills and 10 blocks in the title match. </p> <p><strong>Bellmont, 25-11</strong></p> <p>Unranked entering the playoffs, this resilient squad led by Craig Krull had its ups and downs, and stuck around for a string of epic wins to get this far for their five seniors, four of which had major contributions in the title match. Their clear leader, <strong>Sophie Krull (’21, 5-7, OH) </strong>finished her junior season with her best offensive match; 20 kills while hitting over .300 against the Braves. She also had 13 digs. </p> <p><strong>New Prairie, 29-8</strong></p> <p>Although they graduate four from this squad, none were even close to as effective as outside hitter <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="85693" first="Elise" last="Swistek"] </strong>(Valparaiso commit) with 21 kills while hitting over .400 against Bellmont in the semi state. The future is bright, however, as super-frosh <strong>Haley Robinson (Dunes 16 Black, ’23, 5-10, OH)</strong> also contributed in that four-set loss with 11 kills of her own. The loss of their setter to graduation, however, might put the Cougars out of reach for another title run.</p> <p><strong>Evansville Reitz Memorial, 33-2</strong></p> <p>This senior-heavy squad had been mowing down opponents coming in to the semi state against eventual state champ Brownstown Central, not dropping a set for almost six weeks before their last loss. Their top returner, <strong>Margret Schulten (’21, 5-9, MB)</strong> is a solid track athlete who has a ton of upside. With all of those graduates, however, I don’t see Reitz making it back to the semi state.</p> <p><strong>Dark Horse: Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, 28-5</strong></p> <p>Although the sectional final against Angola (coached by former US National Team Captain, Lloy Ball) could be considered a mild upset, Dwenger is synonymous with volleyball success, and had a rough gauntlet of teams to get through just to get that far. They were also up two sets before Angola pulled a reverse sweep on them. (I’d put Angola into this conversation, but with 11 seniors graduating, I just don’t know what they have coming back.) That being said, the Saints return <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="85813" first="Eva" last="Hudson"] (Munciana 16 Ninjas, ’22, 5-10, OH) </strong>who had almost 400 kills, had 50 aces and hit over .400 for the season as a six-rotation outside her sophomore year.</p>