BLUFFTON — Sometimes athletic contests played at very high levels are decided by which team is the better of the two.
That was exactly the case Saturday when Southwood defeated Madison-Grant in three straight games in the opening round of regional volleyball play Saturday morning.
The Knights were winners 25-9, 25-16, 25-19. That dropped the Argylls to 28-8 and ended a courageous and encouraging season.
“I just told the girls (in the locker room) that we lost to a better team,” said M-G coach Bob Holloway. “They were just a little more polished than us and a little more experienced than us.”
A bit part of the Madison-Grant team and a lot of its experience had to sit the bench due to a knee injury. Senior Sydnie Holland was in uniform and took to the floor when the starters gathered to begin the match. She was taken out before the first serve and soon after she was missed.
The Argylls took a 2-0 lead on kills by sophomore Olivia Stroup and freshman Hunter Wise. Southwood scored the next three points and Madison-Grant’s only lead after that was 1-0 to start the second game.
In that opening contest the Knights had eight aces.
“We obviously had some serve reception breakdowns,” said Holloway. “That’s an area where Sydnie would have helped. She’s very comfortable with service return, especially hard serves. She would also have given us some flexibility to move people around.”
Southwood junior Abby Harness was also a problem for the Argylls at the net where she had two kills, two blocks and a tip in that first game.
Senior Maria Ellingwood’s tip gave the Argylls a 1-0 lead in Game Two and even though it was the only time the rest of the match that Madison-Grant led, the Argylls played better.
Southwood had just three aces. Wise had two kills and two blocks while Stroup had two kills and a tip. Harness was again a big player for the Knights with three blocks, two tips and a kill. Hannah Kirk and Celeste McCormick both had three kills for the winners.
“Our effort was really good the whole day,” said Holloway. “I think we relaxed a little bit more the second game and were a little more aggressive.”
The final game saw the Argylls fighting an uphill battle all the way. The Knights would spurt to a little lead and Madison-Grant would get close and then that pattern would repeat.
Finally, on Katie Kohlmorgen’s serve and a kill by Wise, the Argylls tied it at 11-11. In that game’s most pivotal moment, Southwood’s Kirk got a tip to hit the floor for a 12-11 lead and the Argylls would never again draw even.
Madison-Grant had one more spurt left. Trailing 21-16 mostly from the net play of the Knights’ Kristen Murphy, Stroup’s kill made it 21-17 and gave the serve back to Lauren Stanley.
Stanley served an ace and Wise put down a kill to cut the gap to 21-19. But Southwood’s Meghan Binkerd broke the string with a kill and Mallory Harnish served out the match.
With the score 24-19 in favor of the Knights, Holloway called a time out. After having a discussion with his coaches and his team, he decided to put Holland into the game.
“I did it out of respect for Sydnie,” said Holloway. “We put her in a spot where she wasn’t going to be asked to do too much.” She didn’t touch the ball, but it was a touching tribute regardless. The Argylls graduate just Holland and Ellingwood off this team.
“We’re certainly excited about the future,” said Holloway. “We had three freshmen and two sophomores on the floor there in one rotation.”
High School Sports
Madison-Grant volleyball falls to Southwood
Argylls finish regional run with 25-9, 25-16, 25-19 defeat
- High School Sports
-
-
Triumphant Tribe
Seventeen years of frustration and disappointment for the Anderson Indians baseball team ended in a jubilant dog pile atop junior pitcher Curtis Wilson on Monday night at Pendleton Heights’ Field of Dreams.
-
Argylls squeeze into crown
Madison-Grant coach Ben Rodriguez liked his squeeze play so much that he called it again in the pivotal inning of the Class 2A, Sectional 39 championship game at Eastern High School on Monday night in Greentown.
-
Bulldogs’ comeback falls just short
Not even a heroic seventh-inning rally could save the Lapel baseball team in the Class 2A sectional title game at Frankton on Monday afternoon.
The Bulldogs scored four runs in the seventh inning but still came up a run short as the Wapahani Raiders won the championship 9-8. -
Tribe rallies past Pendleton Heights into final
This is the stuff of legend.
The kind of game that defines a rivalry.
The kind of victory that breathes new life into a program.
And the kind of defeat that won’t ever be forgotten. -
Tipton bedevils Madison-Grant
The Madison-Grant softball team dug a deep hole on Friday night in the championship game of the Class 2A, Sectional 39 at Eastern High School in Greentown. Trailing 5-0 after four innings, the Argylls scratched their way back into the game, but were on the short end of a 5-4 decision against the Tipton Blue Devils.
-
Indians’ Dabney headed to state
The North Central Boys Track Regional is traditionally one of the toughest in the state with powerhouses Lawrence Central, Ben Davis, Pike and the host Panthers among the competitors
But that didn’t faze Anderson senior Derrick Dabney, who turned in two brilliant performances in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles at Thursday’s regional to advance to the state meet at Indiana University in Bloomington next Saturday. -
Roller coaster ride comes to end for Lapel
The Lapel Bulldogs couldn’t overcome one more hurdle in their roller-coaster season on Thursday as they fell to Wapahani 4-1 in the softball championship game of the Class 2A, Sectional 40 at Shenandoah High School.
-
Mason powers Bulldogs into final
The Frankton pitching staff opened the door just a tick Thursday with occasional bouts of wildness. Lapel sophomore Dane Mason blew the door off its hinges with the first multi-homer game of his high school career — including a walk-off grand slam — and the third-ranked Bulldogs stomped the rival Eagles 14-3 to reach this Class 2A baseball sectional final.
-
Panthers upset Tigers in sectional
Elwood used a seven-run third-inning to stun Alexandria 11-5 and advance to the semifinals of the Class 2A baseball sectional at Eastern.
-
Shenandoah bows out with loss to Wapahani
Wapahani’s Red Raiders advanced to the championship game of the Class 2A Frankton Baseball Sectional with a 7-2 win over Shenandoah.
- More High School Sports Headlines
-
