INDIANAPOLIS
Although the season was a struggle at times, the Indian Creek volleyball team advanced to Saturday’s championship match of the Class 3A Northwest Sectional.
The Braves season ended with a 25-14, 25-12, 25-5 against Ritter in the title match.
Indian Creek reached the final by beating Indianapolis Washington in the semifinals.
Ritter (28-8), coached by former Franklin head coach Chris Due, advances to the regionals. Indian Creek ends its season at 11-14.
But second-year head coach Andrea Knight, herself a former Indian Creek player, said the Braves had grown up a lot on and off the court.
“From where we started to right now, we grew as a family and as a team,” Knight said. “We played more like a team and not as individuals, and that was great.”
Ritter’s discipline, plus Due’s heavy rotation of the Raiders, kept the Braves from mounting a serious challenge.
That was evident from the start when Ritter jumped out to a 17-6 lead before Knight called a timeout to regroup.
It worked for a bit as the Braves did start scoring, but unlike Ritter, they string together more than three points per set.
The second game was pretty much the same, as the Braves played gritty. But some mental errors and miscommunication proved to be their undoing.
Ritter scored eight straight points to pull away and win easily.
Indian Creek lead 2-0 in the third set but it was all Ritter after that, as the Raiders then roared out to a 13-4 lead and only gave up one more point to take all three games.
“We started strong,” Knight said. “But we couldn’t capitalize on it.”
Indian Creek loses six seniors to graduation.
“We sort of will be (rebuilding), but really I expect our underclassmen to step up and their play will be key,” Knight said. “We’ll also have our freshmen playing, and next year could be good.”
