The Southwood volleyball team shocked northern Indiana Saturday, sweeping #2 ranked Blackhawk Christian 25-16, 25-19, 25-23 to win the semi state at Huntington North.
The lady Knights were dominate most of the day, leaving no doubt the first two sets before holding off Blackhawk in the third set.
Trailing 6-2 in the first set the young Knights settled down and started playing Volleyknight volleyball. Tying the set at 8 Southwood would start to roll. Kills from Shania Rhamy and Hali Pershing ignited an 8-3 run. Grace Drake and Alexis Lopez also had kills during the run. The Knights would extend their lead to 22-12 before going on to win 25-16.
The Knights would get off to a better start in the second set. Kills from Rhamy and Drake put Southwood up 6-3. Blackhawk would scratch their way back, taking a 12-10 lead before Carly Whitesel started serving lasers and Rahmy going off at the net while Quinn Claussen stopped the Blackhawk surge. The Knights built a 17-12 lead. Allie Haecker would pick up where Whitesel stopped on the serve as the VolleyKnights won the second set 25-19.
It looked as though the Knights were going to run away with the third set, getting kills from Rhamy, Pershing and Claussen to build an 18-10 lead before the wheels fell off for a spell. Blackhawk would go on a 13-1 run to grab a 23-19 lead before the Knights regrouped. The Knights setters would find Pershing for a couple kills and take advantage of a couple Blackhawk errors to tie the score at 23. Haecker would then serve an ace before Whitesel hammered home the winner for a 25-23 win.
Allie Haecker: 9 Service Points, 1 Ace, 18 Digs, 3 Assists
Grace Drake: 8 Service Points, 1 Ace, 9 Kills, 1 Block, 15 Assists, 10 Digs
Carley Whitesel: 14 Service Points, 1 Ace, 1 Dig, 1 Kill, 1 Block
Shania Rhamy: 4 Service Points, 1 Ace, 15 Kills, 3 Blocks, 14 Digs, 1 Assist
Quinn Claussen: 1 Kill, 3 Blocks, 1 Dig
Adi Deaton: 15 Assists, 8 Digs
Hali Pershing: 5 Service Points, 10 Kills, 2 Digs
Giulia Colombini: 7 Digs
Hannah Garrison: 2 Service Points, 1 Dig
Alexis Lopez: 2 Kills, 2 Blocks
The Lady Knights will now play #1 ranked Tecumseh Saturday, November 4th at 11:00 at Ball State University for the state title.
To view photos from the semi state win, click on the picture.
