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Head Coach: Ron Byram Assistant Coach: Michelle Hahn (JV), Sarah Hemmerich (9th) Student Managers: Kasey Cowell and Josh Cowell |
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| Seniors | Juniors | Sophomores | Freshmen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Margaret Booher Shana Bowley Jackie Filip Tricia Hatfield |
Rachel Godley Abby Hemmeger Ashley Lobeck Whitney Weir Clarissa Woodard |
Kelly Hopkins | n/a |
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| Date | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Aug. 19 | Western (H) | (W) 25-18, 25-17, 27-25 Whitney Weir hat 37 service points, 15 aces, 15 assists and six digs. Kelly Hopkins had 20 kills and two blocks. Jackie Fillip tallied 11 serve receptions, six digs and four kills and Abby Hemmeger had 15 serve receptions and 13 digs. |
| Aug. 23 | KHS Invite | Kokomo lost to Zionsville 25-12, 25-12. Kokomo beat Frankfort 26-24, 28-26. Kokomo lost to Lake Central 25-18, 25-14. Kokomo lost to Carroll (Allen) 25-15, 25-16. Kelly Hopkins had 21 kills and five blocks. Abby Hemmeger had twelve kills, 58 service receptions and 21 digs. Rachel Godley had six kills. Whitney Weir had 21 assists. Tricia Hatfield hat 18 assists. Jackie Fillip had 37 service receptions and 17 digs. Shana Bowley had 34 service receptions and 23 digs. |
| Aug. 25 | McCutcheon (T) | (L) 25-13, 25-18, 25-22 Jackie Filip had 17 serve receptions, nine digs and four kills. Tricia Hatfield had seven assists and four kills. Kelly Hopkins added four kills and two blocks, and Abby Hemmeger had 16 serve receptions and ten digs. Shana Bowley had 13 serve receptions and six digs. |
| Aug. 27 | Harrison (H) | (L) 25-16, 25-13, 25-18 Kelly Hopkins tallied five kills and four blocks. Whitney Weir had six assists, Jackie Filip had 16 serve receptions and Shana Bowley had 13 serve receptions and six digs. |
| Sept. 2 | Elwood (H) | (W) 25-19, 25-16, 27-25 We hosted Elwood last night and came away with straight set wins. The JV won 2-0 to even its record at 2-2. The varsity improved its record to 3-5 with a 3-0 victory. In the third game we were behind 22-24, but battled back to take a 25-24 lead and eventually win 27-25. Kelly Hopkins and Jackie Filip led the way at the net with nine and eight kills, respectively. Whitney Weir did all of the setting and had 20 assists. Ashley Lobeck had her best night as a varsity player, leading the passers with 11 good server receptions, followed closely by Margaret Booher with 10. Abby Hemmeger and Shana Bowley led the teram with eight digs apiece. We get a full week of practice before we travel to Northwestern next Tuesday, for what is normally a hotly-contested match. We return home on the 11th to host Lewis Cass on Middle School volleyball night. See you there. - Coach Byram |
| Sept. 9 | Northwestern (T) | (W) 25-22, 19-25, 25-22, 24-14 We traveled to Northwestern, and it was a normal Cat fight: Tiger vs. Wildkat style. Both teams had a good student representation in the stands. It was a vocal and energetic atmosphere. They came roaring out of the gate and took a 12-3 lead in the first game, which are now called “sets” for some reason. Our girls regrouped and battled back to win 25-22. Northwestern won the 2nd game 19-25. The third game we took the lead midway through, but could not pull away and won another close one 25-22. In the 4th game, we took control early and never let them get going and took a 25-14 victory. Tricia Hatfield had a tremendous night spiking, slamming down 12 thunderous kills. Kelly Hopkins again led us in total kills with 15. Abby Hemmeger found her spiking form again and contributed 11 kills. Shana Bowley and Jackie Filip each had 25 good serve receptions and 15 digs to lead the defense. We will be at home tomorrow against Lewis Cass. Come on out and join the fun. JV starts at 6:00. - Coach Byram |
| Sept. 11 | Cass (H) | (W) 25-20, 25-23, 25-21 Last night we defeated Lewis Cass in three straight sets, although in the first one we started off with a 10-1 deficit. We then went on to out score them 24-10 the rest of the way. The final two games, we were in control, but could never pull away to a big lead. Our consistency is improving and we are making many nice plays. Jackie Filip had a great serving night. She brought us back in the first set. Kelly Hopkins was our attack leader with 15 kills and six blocks. Shana Bowley and Abby Hemmeger did an excellent job on serve reception and defense. Margaret Booher also added some good serve receptions. Her sister Emily, seeing her first varsity action, came in and did a good job of serving. We travel up north to the nine-team Chesterton Invitational on Saturday. We will play Hobart and Boone Grove starting at 10:00 our time. If all goes according to plan, we will then take on Chesterton and East Chicago Washington in the championship pool. - Coach Byram |
| Sept. 13 | Chesterton Tourney | Boone Grove def. Kokomo 25-21, 25-16 Hobart def. Kokomo 25-21, 25-21 Kokomo def. Hammond Bishop Noll 25-23, 25-22 Kokomo def. E. Chicago Central 20-25, 25-20, 15-6 We traveled up north for the Chesterton Invitational on Saturday. All had a fun time. As we were warming up, we were informed the schedule had been changed and we didn’t play the first match. We then played four matches in a row, with a 30 minute break in the middle for lunch. We played well in all the matches and finished with a 2-2 record. We just made a few too many offensive errors in the sets we lost. We lost to Hobart and Boone Grove. We defeated Bishop Hammond Noll and East Chicago Central. Kelly Hopkins had 32 kills followed by Tricia Hatfield with 21. Kelly also had 8 stuff blocks. Ashley Lobeck had 45 assists with Whitney Weir 21. Jackie Filip was our top serve receiver with 60. Abby Hemmeger had 42 and Shana Bowley 38. That same trio led us in defensive digs. Shana Bowley, our libero, was named to the All Tournament team. Congratulations. Our next match is at North Miami on Wednesday. - Coach Byram |
| Sept. 17 | North Miami (T) | (W) 25-20, 25-22, 25-15 The JV raised it’s record to 4-3 after winning in two sets. The Varsity was playing for the first time without Tricia Hatfield, who had a season-ending injury in practice on Monday. They responded very well to the line up and rotation changes. Abby Hemmeger had a great all around night. She had 11 kills, 15 good server receptions and 15 digs to go along with some outstanding serving. Clarissa Woodard had her first extended serving night and did a great job. Kelly Hopkins again was a force at the net. Jackie Filip, who was moved to the left side, responded with five kills to go along with 14 good server receptions and 13 defensive digs. After starting the season 2-5, the Varsity record is now 8-7. We travel to Tipton tonight and to New Castle on Saturday. - Coach Byram |
| Sept. 18 | Tipton (T) | (W) 25-18, 25-13, 25-23 The Volleykats traveled south last night to take on the Tipton Blue Devils. After falling behind 8-17, Whitney Weir served seven straight points and then Abby Hemmeger added 10. That finished off a 17-1 run and secured a 25-18 victory. We then had control and also won the next two sets and the match. Whitney added 19 assists to her 25 serving points on the night. Kelly Hopkins had a personal best and one of the best ever with 21 kills in only three sets. Shana Bowley did an excellent job of covering the floor on defense and getting the ball to our setters, as did Jackie Filip and Abby Hemmeger. Tricia Hatfield was in the stands with her cast on, cheering on the Kats. The varsity record is now at 9-7. The JV improved to 5-3 with a three-set victory over the Blue Devils. Both will be in NCC action on Saturday at New Castle. The JV will start play at 10:00 against Richmond with the varsity following immediately. Richmond was 3rd in the conference last year and only lost one senior. Next the JV will play New Castle, in the largest high school gym in the nation. We will follow that match by taking on the defending State Champions on their home floor. Their National Freshman Player of the Year last year, has been out with an injury, but may return on Saturday. It is going to be a tough day for the Volleykats, but we feel we are up to the task. Go Kats!! - Coach Byram |
| Sept. 20 | New Castle / Richmond @ New Castle | Richmond def. Kokomo 25-18, 25-21, 25-18 New Castle def. Kokomo 25-14, 25-13, 25-6 Saturday we opened NCC play at New Castle with two losses. First we took on a very talented team from Richmond that finished third last year with only one senior. We battled them close in all three sets. Every time around the 12-18 point mark there would be a few lucky points or questionable calls that would give them a four or five-point lead. We would battle back, but could not take control. We then took on the defending 4A State Champions, led by last year’s National Freshman Player of the Year. The first two sets, we played very well again and won many exciting volleys. In the third set our play fell off a little and they showed why they are again a contender for the State Championship. These are the best two teams we have faced this season and it is the best we have played. Our improvement is exciting to watch. Kelly Hopkins was our kill leader with 14, while Clarissa Woodard had her best day in the middle against our toughest competition with nine kills. Our serve receivers and main defenders Shana Bowley, Jackie Filip and Abby Hemmeger did an outstanding job. Whitney and Jackie again led us in scoring with 21 and 19, respectively. We take our 9-9 record to Lafayette Jefferson on Tuesday. We are finally at home on Thursday for another NCC contest against Huntington North. Make plans to be there and be loud. - Coach Byram |
| Sept. 23 | Lafayette Jeff (T) | (W) 23-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-17 Any time you can beat a Lafayette volleyball team in Lafayette, you must have played well. That is exactly what our VolleyKats did last night. After losing the first set 23-25, we controlled the next three, winning 25-18, 25-15, and 25-17. Abby Hemmeger had a huge night with 17 kills, 18 good serve receptions, and 18 digs. Shana Bowley and Jackie Filip added 18 and 17 digs, as our defense was all over their attackers. Jackie also had a team high 22 good serve receptions. Kelly Hopkins added 13 kills. We hope to continue our fine play tomorrow evening when we host NCC foe, Huntington North. Come on out and join in the fun, as it should be a very exciting and hard fought match. JV starts at 6:00 with the varsity about 7:15. Go Kats - Coach Byram |
| Sept. 25 | Huntington North (H) | (L) 25-15, 25-18, 24-14 Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you. We were the main course last night. After improving and playing so well the last three weeks, we had a setback last night. I am assuming it is a one-day phenomenon. We could not get any aspect of the game going for any length of time. It was one of those nightmare nights. Too bad it had to come against a good Huntington North team in NCC play. If last night was the first time you have seen us play, come back. We are much better. The bright spot was sophomore Brice Allen, who was playing in her first full time varsity match. She did a nice job playing on the right side for us. She usually plays middle for the JV. We will regroup and take to our home court again next Tuesday evening. See you there. - Coach Byram |
| Sept. 30 | Tri-Central (H) | (W) 25-20, 24-26, 25-13, 25-10 We hosted Tri Central last night and won in a three-set sweep. Kelly Hopkins and Abby Hemmeger did an outstanding job at the net. Clarissa Woodard had her best blocking match. Shana Bowley, Abby, and Jackie Filip continue to do all of the passing for us and are doing a very good job. Whitney Weir and Ashley Lobeck continue to share the setting duties. Margaret Booher added some nice attacks. We will take our 11-10 record to Logansport tomorrow. They have the tallest NCC team and one of the best Logansport volleyball teams in a long time. We will have to play well to bring home a victory. That is our plan. - Coach Byram |
| Oct. 2 | Logansport (T) | (L) 25-20, 25-23, 25-13 We traveled to the Berry Bowl for an exciting NCC match up last night. After falling behind 11-4 in the first set, we rallied to tie it at 19, but could not finish it off. The 2nd set we had the lead until the Berries tied it at 13. From that point on it was back and forth. The final tie was at 23-23. A bad call and a bad play ended the set for us. In the 3rd set we were down 10-7, when they went on their biggest run of the night, five points. We could not recover. Kelly Hopkins had an outstanding night at the net, pounding down many thunderous kills. - Coach Byram |
| Oct. 4 | Southwood Invite |
We played three very good teams on Saturday and were handed three losses. We lost to Southwood, Woodlan, and Blackford. Inconsistency was our doom. At least once each set we would have a lull and give up five or six unearned points. The rest of the time we played some very good volleyball. Kelly Hopkins had a good day of attacking with 21 kills and hitting over .350. Whitney Weir served very well with seven aces and 22 serving points. Clarissa Woodard was very active at the net. All the girls showed stretches of greatness. We will try to sustain that for an entire match this Thursday when we host one of last year’s Final Four teams, Carmel. Hope to see you in the gym. - Coach Byram |
| Oct. 9 | Carmel (H) | (L) 25-17, 25-22, 25-15 The Volleykats played very well against an outstanding Carmel team last evening. We battled right down to the wire in the first two sets before losing. Carmel, a Final Four team last year that averages about 6' across the front line, played just a little better than us. I was proud of how our girls responded throughout the match. Jackie Filip had a great night with 5 kills, 22 good serve receptions, 10 digs, and many outstanding serves. Whitney Weir did a great job of setting the ball to our attackers. We get little rest, as we travel to Anderson to take on highly ranked Muncie Central at 10:00 Saturday. We will then play the host Indians. We will follow that up with a trip to Maconaquah on Monday. - Coach Byram |
| Oct. 11 | Anderson / Muncie Central / Huntington North @ Anderson |
We traveled to Anderson for a pair of NCC matches on Saturday. Nationally ranked Muncie Central handed us a quick three-set loss. The 2nd game was pretty competitive most of the way. Their ball control is exceptional, which allows the Bearcats to have every option of their offense available on virtually every play. We then took on the host Indians, and were in control the whole way, winning in three sets. We travel to Maconaquah tonight to take on a fine Brave team. The sectional draw is today. - Coach Byram |
| Oct. 13 | Maconaquah (T) | (L) 25-21, 25-13, 25-17 We traveled to Maconaquah last night. The freshman team got the night started off with a convincing two-set victory. The improvement in the young Volleykats is very evident. Sarah Hemmerich is doing a nice job of bringing the freshman along. Our JV team, guided by Michelle Hahn, also controlled both sets in their victory. All I can say about the varsity Volleykats is that we had a negative hitting percent. That means we had more errors than kills. No team can win with that type of offensive performance. Our passing and defense did a nice job. We will try to correct our offense at practice today and be ready, as we will host Eastern tomorrow evening. See you there. - Coach Byram |
| Oct. 15 | Eastern (H) | (W) 18-25, 17-25, 28-26, 25-21, 15-5 The Eastern Comets varsity volleyball team, who are conference champions, county champions, and defending sectional champions, brought their 21-6 record to town last night. For the first 2 4/5 (yes I am a math teacher) sets, they were in control of our VolleyKats. Our girls kept fighting and making corrections as the match progressed. Our first lead came at 21-20 in the 3rd set. We fell behind 24-23, but held off match point and went on to win 28-26. With that win, the momentum swung our direction. Our play continued to improve as we controlled the 4th set and won 25-21. A quick start in the 5th and final set, led to a convincing 15-5 set and match victory. This is the first time all year our VolleyKats have had to go to a final deciding set. This was a great high school volleyball match. There were many long and exciting volleys. Kelly Hopkins hammered out 20 kills and Abby Hemmeger added 15. Jackie Filip had a great night in the backcourt leading us in good serve receptions and defensive digs. Shana Bowley did her normally fine job at the Libero position. Margaret Booher had a couple of very timely kills and blocks on the right side. Clarissa Woodard added seven kills, none bigger than the one to tie the 3rd set at 24. It was a great effort by all 10 girls. - Coach Byram |
| Oct. 16 | Marion (T) | (L) 25-18, 25-20, 25-19 We traveled to Marion last night The JV and freshman made quick work of the Giants and won in two sets. Our Varsity Volleykats had the inconsistency bug again last evening. We would start to get control and then give back what we had gained. Jackie Filip, Shana Bowley and Abby Hemmeger did a good job of receiving serve and playing defense. Monday we will host Peru for our Senior Night match. Please come on out and honor our four seniors, Tricia Hatfield, Margaret Booher, Jackie Filip and Shana Bowley. The JV will start at 6 with the senior recognition immediately following around 6:40. See you there. - Coach Byram |
| Oct. 20 | Peru (H) | (W) 20-25, 26-24, 19-25, 25-20, 15-7 We hosted the Peru Bengal Tigers for our Senior Night contest last evening. After a slow start, we increased our intensity and came away with a five set victory, 15-7 in the 5th set. We have won every match that has gone to four or five sets this entire year. Seniors Jackie Filip, Margaret Booher and Shana Bowley all played well in their final regular season high school volleyball match. We still miss Tricia Hatfield’s spiking from the left side, as she is still on crutches. Margaret had her best spiking night with 7 kills in 14 attempts, no errors for a .500 hitting efficacy. Jackie and Shana again did a wonderful job of passing and defending. Kelly Hopkins had 22 kills on the evening. Whitney Weir and Jackie really got us going with some outstanding serving. Clarissa Woodard made some great plays in the front row. This has been an outstanding group of young ladies to work with. Our sectional starts on Thursday. For only the 2nd time in 11 years, we have drawn the bye and will not play until Saturday. We will take on the winner of the Harrison vs. Logansport match at around 12:30 at McCutcheon. We can use all the fan support we can get. The Lafayette schools always bring a large and vocal group. Come on over and help us out. - Coach Byram |
| Oct. 23 | Sectional | Harrison over Logansport 25-19, 25-20, 25-20 |
| Oct. 25 | Sectional | Laf. Jeff def. McCutcheon Harrison def. Kokomo 25-17, 25-14, 25-15 We traveled to Lafayette to take on the defending and favorite to repeat as sectional champions, Harrison. It was evident early that we only had four girls that had played in a sectional atmosphere before. After we settled down, we had many good plays, but could not string enough together to take control of any of the sets. Our effort was good but the Raiders were playing the best they had all year and ended our season in three sets. Kelly Hopkins worked hard for her 12 kills. Jackie Filip, Shana Bowley, and Abby Hemmeger had many good defensive digs and serve receptions. Margaret Booher again had a good game on the right side with 3 kills and 2 blocks. The seniors - Shana, Jackie, Margaret and Tricia Hatfield (still in her cast) - did a great job of leadership on and off the court this year. It was a true pleasure to coach all these girls this year. - Coach Byram Harrison over Laf. Jeff 25-15, 25-18, 25-11 |