Page 22 - 2012-13 Volleyball State Finals Program

Last Year’s State Finals in Review

NO. 2 PENN TOPS NO. 1 AVON TO DEFEND 4A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

In a battle of the top two ranked teams in Class 4A,
it was No. 2 Penn handing No. 1 Avon its first loss of the
season, a 25-16, 17-25, 25-13, 25-18 victory for the state
championship in Muncie. This marks Penn’s second con-
secutive state championship after winning the school’s first
a year ago. Sarah Hendricks is the first year Penn coach
while last year’s Kingsmen squad was directed by Lisa
Pawlik.
Penn (38-1) ended the year winners of 33 straight
matches and registered its 13th straight tournament vic-
tory dating to the start of last year’s sectional. Their lone
blemish was a 2-0 loss to Muncie Burris on Aug. 27. Kaitlyn
Hickey led the Kingsmen with 18 kills and three service
aces in the match. Becca Lira and Annie Drews added 11
kills each and Natalie Meert dug 13 balls. Katie Higginbo-
tham and Emily Graves shared the Avon lead with nine kills
apiece. Alli Bexall and Brooke Peters had 14 and 11 digs,
respectively.
Coached by Scott McQueen, Avon was attempting to
become the first 4A squad to complete a perfect season
since the class era began in 1997. The Orioles’ second
set win was the first one Penn had dropped in the last 22
matches. Saturday’s state finals attendance was a record
8,102 which easily topped last year’s 4,735, the first year of
the four-match format.
TOP-RANKED YORKTOWN COMPLETES DELAWARE COUNTY TRIFECTA
Yorktown lived up to its No. 1 billing and gave the
Delaware County schools a trifecta in sweeping to the 3A
state title with a 25-13, 25-19, 25-15 victory over unranked
Indianapolis Bishop Chatard at Worthen Arena.
The Tigers (37-2) claimed the school’s second volley-
ball state championship to go along with their 2000 3A title.
They finished as state runner-up in 2009. It was the team’s
18th consecutive victory, fourth 3-0 sweep in a row and fifth
of the state tournament. Yorktown also had swept Chatard,
2-0, back on Aug. 27.
Yorktown’s leading offensive threat Emily Wolfert
stepped up in the final match of her prep career tallying 20
kills to go along with four digs and two service aces. Class-
mate Kelsey Barker chimed in with 13 kills while Nikki Box
and Kati Vasalakis got the job done defensively with 14 and
13 digs, respectively. Box also landed three service aces.
Marissa Collier led Chatard (21-18) with seven kills,
while Anna Logan and Lexi Siegler each added four. Mary
Kilbane dug 16 balls on defense.
Yorktown, the third Delaware County school of the day
to win a state championship, was coached by Stephanie
Bloom. Bishop Chatard was guided by Larry Leonhardt.
The Trojans were making their first state finals appear-
ance since their 2004 3A championship season and fourth
overall.

22 IHSAA - Pure Spirit. Pure Sport. Pure INDIANA!