The Press-Dispatch
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D-10 Fall Sports Preview Wednesday, August 19, 2015 The Press-Dispatch VOLLEYBALL JR VARSITY Lady Chargers looking to spike the competition The Pike Central High School girls' volleyball team, which began its season on Tuesday, Aug. 18, at Vincennes Lincoln, will host Washington on Wednesday, Aug. 19, before visiting Washington Catholic on Tuesday, Aug. 25. The members of the team are, front row (l to r): Morgan Whann, Shelbi Pipes, Nicah McFar- land, Kirstin Asbell and Maya Frederick. Back row: Head Coach Tonya Walton, Peyton Ruppe, Jo Whitehead, Brook Nalley, Alyssa Lee and Assistant Coach Chris Kramer. Not pictured: Assistant Coach Corie Lynn and Paige Kluemper. Ed Cahill photo Pictured above is the Pike Central High School junior varsity volleyball team. Members of the team are, front row (l to r): Alle- sha Sisk, Madison Miller, Kylie Dawson and Meredith Benson. Second row: Madison Sisk, Kenzie Dunn, Chelsea Fidler, Natalie Burnhart, Peyton Sorgius, Becca Crow and Alex Traylor. Back row: Head Coach Tonya Walton, Alyssa Jenkins, Madison Dischinger, Kenzie Evans, Hannah Mills, Taylor Lamey, Kylee Shoultz and Assistant Coach Chris Kramer. Not pictured: Assistant Coach Ko- rie Lynn. Ed Cahill photo I feel like we're even stronger this year, especially defensively. Offensively, we're going to be a little younger...but I've got some big hitters." -Coach Tonya Walton GO 812-354-8500 We'll be on the sidelines, rooting you on to another incredible season! The Dispatch Press Pike County's neWs netWork Chargers! By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net While the Pike Central High School volleyball team lost eight seniors – includ- ing Pocket Athletic Confer- ence First Team setter Chloe Keepes – to graduation last spring, unlike Old Mother Hubbard, head coach Tonya Walton's cupboard is hard- ly bare. Junior outside hitter Pey- ton Ruppel, who received All-PAC honorable mention last season after leading the Lady Chargers with 366 digs, junior middle block- er Jo Whitehead, who had a team-high 208 kills a year ago, and senior libero Nicah McFarland, who recorded 347 digs as a junior, head a solid core of seven return- ing players from a team that had a won-loss record of 6 - 26, including a 1-7 mark in the PAC. "They played well, but they just couldn't pull off the wins that I thought we would have pulled off," said Walton of last year's squad. "I feel like we're even stron- ger this year, especially de- fensively. Offensively, we're going to be a little younger than we have been. But I've got some big hitters, and I feel like the defense is there to help get that offense mov- ing." Ruppel, Whitehead and sophomore middle blocker Brook Nalley – all of whom Walton described as "three huge powerful hitters" – will, along with junior outside hit- ter Alyssa Lee, provide the Lady Chargers with a solid front line. "Alyssa's been working hard on being more aggres- sive this summer, and she's really come around, too," Walton said. "I think, offen- sively, I've got four strong hitters." McFarland, a fourth-year varsity player, is expected to play a key role in the Lady Chargers' defense. "I've got her in both left- back and middle-back posi- tions during different points of the game," Walton said. "She reads the hitters very, very well. She has awesome form, so she is very consis- tent getting that ball to my setter. That's what I need out of my libero. I need some- body to get my setter the ball, and she does that. And she moves very, very quick- ly." "She's been my (defensive specialist) for years and now she's my libero," Walton add- ed. "It's a huge advantage to have a libero like Nicah in the back row, every single point." Senior Kirstin Asbell will be handling the bulk of the team's setting duties until ju- nior setter Paige Kluemper returns to action after sus- taining minor injuries she in a recent AT V accident. "She's been working re- ally hard on strengthening her arms and legs to real- ly be able to push the ball out," Walton said of Asbell. "My plan is to have two set- ters. She's only going to set from the back row, so she can't jump and tip the ball, so she's been really work- ing hard on what to do with those balls that she can't ac- tually set a decent set for." "Last year, she played back row a lot and some front row," Walton added. "While she wasn't setting, she was in the game and she got the speed of the game, so she's going to be a definite asset when it comes to that, hav- ing that varsity experience already." Ruppel, a third-year start- er for the Lady Chargers who also had 186 kills, 28 ace serves, four blocks and five block-assists last season, has continued to develop her skills, Walton said. "Freshman year got her used to the game," Walton said. "Sophomore year, re- ally worked with her on technique and seeing the court. This summer, she has really been working on her lines, her angles, real- ly seeing where the holes in the defense are, and work- ing on controlling her shot a little more than just a hard hit. She has great aim. She is really learning to control where she wants the ball. She's a very, very smart play- er." Meanwhile, Whitehead, – who ranked second on the team last season with 25 blocks – is coming off of knee surgery after tearing her ACL in a snow-skiing ac- cident in February. "She's worked hard to get her speed and her strength back up," Walton said. "She's been really work- ing hard on her shot. She's had a little bit of timing is- sues this summer, from be- ing a little slower from the knee. She's still a power- house. She's really worked this summer on placing the ball where she wants it and having that good strong con- trol over the ball and not nec- essarily just swinging hard at it. She's working a lot on her blocking, really getting to read the hitters well so she can get more blocks this year, too, which I need as a middle." Lee, who, like Whitehead, is in her second year on the varsity, has been working on how to handle difficult sets. "She tends to just tip them a lot if she doesn't like the set, and she's really been working hard on hitting the ball with control on an im- perfect set," Walton said. "She's really doing a really good job with that." "Jo and Alyssa are com- ing into this year feeling like they know what to expect," Walton added. "Last year, I just kind of threw them into a varsity position. This year, I think they feel a more solid member of the team in know- ing what's going to happen and what's going on, on the varsity level." Kluemper will serve as a setter when she returns to action, Walton said. "She's very quick on her feet, very strong," Walton said. "She's been working on like the dump sets and stuff like that, catching the defense off guard. She's very strong and she does a very good job of getting the balls way out to the outside hit- ters. Her quickness is prob- ably going to be her biggest strength, because she is very quick at getting to the ball." Maya Frederick, a left- handed junior, will see ac- tion at the right-outside hit- ter position. "That's going to be a very big asset to her on the right side of the court, being able to use that left hand to hit line and hit angle, not to mention it throws middle blockers off because they're not used to a left-handed hit- ter," Walton said. "They're using to that ball crossing to the right hand, and that will definitely throw off a lot of inexperienced blockers. I think it'll be a good asset to us, too. She's a very athletic, strong girl." Walton expects Nalley's vertical leaping ability to be an asset for the Lady Char- gers at the middle blocker position. "She has a very good ver- tical and she uses that verti- cal very well," Walton said. "We're still working with her on controlling her shot. She just wants to swing real- ly hard at everything – and sometimes they go really far out of bounds." "But she has the strength and she has the athleticism, and I think she'll get that under control as the season goes on, in a game setting," Walton added. "In a practice setting, she's done a good job at reading blockers. Instead of just hitting into a blocker's hands, she's finding the an- gles and working on hitting around the blockers." Sophomore Morgan Whann will serve as a de- fensive specialist, filling in for Lee in the back row. "Morgan has really im- proved her ball control over the summer and is read- ing the hitters really, really well," Walton said. "I'm still working with her on serve- receive a little bit, but, defen- sively, she has gotten very consistent this summer, es- pecially reading the hitters. That's what she and I have worked on, seeing where the hitters are hitting so she doesn't have to guess. So she's really come a long way there." Walton expects sopho- more Shelbi Pipes to serve in sort of a jack-of-all-trades role in her first year on the varsity squad. "Shelbi's kind of wherever she needs to fill in," Walton said. "At the moment, she's helping me fill in Paige's spot. Shelbi can be a right- side hitter. She can be a left- side hitter. She can be a set- ter. And she can be a (de- fensive specialist). So Shel- bi's very, very versatile and, right now, she's doing a little bit more right-side, to help with Paige's spot." "I brought her up because I've got to have another hit- ter if I need it and I've got to have another DS if I need it and I've got to have an- other setter if I need it, and that's Shelbi," Walton add- ed. "She's just a very ver- satile player, great ball con- See SPIKE on D-11