Top-ranked Lafayette Central Catholic Sweeps to Second State Title
After rallying for the final three points of the first set, Lafayette Central Catholic rolled to a 26-24, 25-18, 25-15 victory over Hauser in the Class A championship match.
Central Catholic (30-5) thus captured its second-ever state title (2010) after falling in the championship match in both 2013 and 2015.
Hauser (35-5) hung tough in the opening set and led, 24-23. The Knights, however, rose up to stave off match point and pull out the win. Central Catholic then opened game two with the first five points and never trailed to go up, 2-0.
In the final set, Hauser led, 7-6, but the Knights took command from there, scoring four straight points for a 10-7 lead and romping to the victory. With sophomore Jozee Evans serving, LCC reached match point on a tip-kill by Maddie McPherson before 6-foot junior Gretchen Kuckkan’s kill ended the contest.
Kuckkan led LCC with 21 kills and three aces, while Evans had 14 kills along with nine digs. Sami Royer finished with 38 assists.
Hauser got 10 kills from senior Maddie Sherman. Teammate Sarah Tedder had four kills and 17 digs.
Hauser’s Sydney Schoen named Mental Attitude Award Winner
At the conclusion of the state finals, the IHSAA Executive Committee, on behalf of Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, named Sydney Schoen of Hauser Junior-Senior High School as the winner of the Class A Mental Attitude Award.
She becomes the first girl from her school and third overall to win an IHSAA mental attitude award joining Jacob Miller (2005 1A Baseball) and Jordan Perkins (2006 1A Boys Basketball).
Schoen ranks first in her senior class academically. She is involved in the school’s Student Council and National Honor Society and is a Bartholomew County finalist for the Lilly Endowment Scholarship.
Besides playing four years of volleyball, she has been a member of the Jets’ track team and was regional qualifier in the long jump and has been All-Mid-Hoosier Conference in softball the last two seasons.
Sydney is the daughter of Jerry and Becky Shoen of Columbus. She has accepted a volleyball scholarship from Eastern Kentucky University where she plans to study business.
Each year the IHSAA Executive Committee selects a senior player who was nominated by her principal and coach and was determined to have best demonstrated mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability. Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, presenting sponsor of the IHSAA Mental Attitude Award in Class A Volleyball, will donate $1,000 to Hauser’s general scholarship fund in the name of Sydney Schoen.