Hauser players celebrate a point at Seymour Monday Sept. 12, 2022.
The Republic file photo
Bartholomew County will be home to two volleyball sectional tournaments next week, and Sunday night, pairings for those sites, as well as those for the rest of the state, were drawn.
Columbus East will host a Class 4A Sectional and will open against Whiteland at around 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13. The winner will play Shelbyville in the second semifinal at around 12:30 p.m. Oct. 15.
“We’re fine with it,” East coach Ellyn McIntosh said. “Obviously, we haven’t seen Whiteland before, so we don’t know what they bring to the table. But we’re confident that we can pull it out.”
Columbus North drew a first-round bye in the East Sectional and will play in the first semifinal at 11 a.m. Oct. 15 against the winner between Franklin and East Central.
“We’re all super excited,” North coach Jenna Ortega said. “We actually play Franklin this week (on Thursday at Franklin), so we’re looking forward to see what they’re going to bring. Our girls are ready to recharge and be ready for the sectional.”
The sectional final is scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 15. East and Franklin, which split a pair of regular-season matches, are the teams to beat.
“With us having split with Franklin, maybe they are (the favorite), but being in a pretty new sectional, I don’t know if we could be the favorite this year,” McIntosh said. “Anything can happen in the postseason.”
Columbus East’s Kenzie Foster serves the ball during a match against Columbus North in Memorial Gym at Columbus North High School.
The Republic file photo
McIntosh thinks the Olympians (13-10) are peaking at the right time.
“I think we’re playing pretty well,” McIntosh said. “We’re finally kind of healthy and maybe have turned the corner, but we’re just going to take it one game at a time.”
Columbus North’s Logan Branstetter returns a serve during a match against Columbus East in Memorial Gym at Columbus North High School.
The Republic file photo
Ortega thinks the Bull Dogs (11-13) also are playing some of their best volleyball of the season, aside from Thursday’s three-set loss to East.
“I think this is a great group of girls, and they’re going to show up and play,” Ortega said. “They’re all super close and have a good relationship. They’re going to show up and play and not look back and have any regrets.”
Hauser, meanwhile, bumped up from Class A to 2A this year and will host its sectional. The Jets (20-10) have a tough draw, though, and will face the other sectional favorite, North Decatur, in the opening round at 6 p.m. Oct. 13.
The Chargers beat Hauser in four close sets during the regular season.
“(The draw is) something that’s out of our control,” Hauser coach Jeff Case said. “We knew we were going to have to play them at some point. Losing to North Decatur before could be a good thing. It will get our attention.”
Milan and Southwestern (Hanover) will play in the second first-round match on Oct. 13, and that winner will face South Ripley in the second semifinal. The Hauser-North Decatur winner will meet Switzerland County in the first semifinal at 11 a.m. Oct. 15.
“I think we’re playing pretty well, even though we had a couple losses before we got a win against Rushville,” Case said. “We played Greensburg pretty well.”
Last year’s Class A state runner-up, Trinity Lutheran, also will host a sectional. The third-ranked Cougars open with West Washington at 6 p.m. Oct. 13 and with a win, would play Medora in the first semifinal at 11 a.m. Oct. 15.
South Decatur, which dropped from 2A to A this year, will face Southwestern (Shelby) in the first round of the Waldron Sectional at around 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13. Edinburgh drew a first-round bye and will meet Oldenburg Academy or Morristown in the first semifinal at 11 a.m. Oct. 15, followed by the South Decatur-Southwestern winner against the Waldron-Jac-Cen-Del winner.
Jennings County will play Floyd Central at around 7:30 p.m. Oct. 13 in a 4A Sectional at Jeffersonville. The winner will meet New Albany in the semifinals at around 12:30 p.m. Oct. 15.
In Class 3A, Brown County drew a first-round bye and will face Indian Creek or West Vigo in the first semifinal at 11 a.m. Oct. 15.
All sectional finals are the evening of Oct. 15. Regional semifinals and finals will be Oct. 22, with semistate action Oct. 29. The state finals ate Nov. 5 at Ball State’s Worthen Arena.
