2010 EVENT RAISES $10,000 FOR NICU

SOUTH'S VOLLEYBALL TRADITION PREVAILS AGAINST NORTH

Andy Amey
The Tribune Star
September 24, 2010

Tradition is a wonderful thing, Taylor Hayne indicated.

That monkey is getting a little cumbersome, Kris Painter feels.

Those were the opposite reactions Thursday night after visiting Terre Haute South had indeed maintained its tradition, beating host Terre Haute North in high school volleyball for the umpteenth time in a row.

South's 25-16, 23-25, 25-14, 25-14 Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference victory means Hayne and Madison Steward made it through their careers as Braves without ever losing a regular-season match to their friendly rivals on the other side of town -- although there still could be one more sectional meeting yet to come -- and that was especially sweet for Hayne; she notched her first win over North with her older sister playing for the Patriots, and she got her fourth one on Thursday while being coached by another older sister.

"Relieved," is how Hayne described her emotions after her 18-kill, 14-dig performance was a major component of the South win. "It's an amazing feeling. Words can't explain how I feel about keeping this tradition going."

"We knew we could pull through," added Steward, who had 19 digs and 16 kills of her own. "We were doing everything we have to do [to win]."

Take the opposite of those emotions and triple them and you might approximate the feeling of the senior Patriots, a group with everything on its resume except the elusive win over South. Those pesky simians on their backs might have interfered with some of their play Thursday, their coach hinted.

"They want to win so bad and they're trying so hard, sometimes they don't let the game come to them," Painter said after the match. "We came to play … but when things start not going the way we want, we worry about it too much."

With the larger-than-normal crowd for the "Volleyball for the Small" fund-raising effort and with each end zone packed with boisterous student crowds, the atmosphere was electric from the start and the Patriots may have had a few of their unforced errors as a result.

South went on a 9-1 run in the first game to take a 13-6 lead, the Patriots giving away five of those points, and was never seriously threatened the rest of the game. The Braves also jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the second game as Sloan Stephens had a pair of aces and Hayne pounded four early kills.

"[The Braves] worked hard all week," coach Madison Minnick of South said afterward. "They've done a great job taking in all the information we give them in practice, they stuck with the game plan and they executed everything."

North gradually worked its way back in the second game, however. The Patriots crept within 12-11 on a block by setter Laura Mauer, tied the game for the first time at 16-16 on kills by Mary Kate Etling, Katlyn Anderson and Kristyn Moss, and took their first lead at 21-20 on back-to-back blocks by Kinzi Kiefer.

South rallied from a 24-21 deficit with another Hayne kill and another Stephens ace, but Etling got a kill from the back row to give North the game.

History seemed to be repeating itself in the pivotal third game, with South jumping out to an 8-2 lead and North battling back to within 10-8.

"We get overexcited instead of settling down and playing," Painter said later, "but I thought maybe we had it out of our system at the end of game two … but then it was South that turned the game around."

Stephens had two assists, a block and another service ace as the Braves went on a 6-1 run for a 16-9 lead, and Morgan Taylor had four blocks and a kill down the stretch as the visitors pulled away. Then Steward had two kills and Marissa Coutinho an ace in a 6-0 South run for a 13-6 lead early in the fourth game, and North didn't seriously threaten again. One last long service run by Stephens made it 21-9 and South coasted home.

"We had a little slip-up in game two," Minnick said later, "but we only lost that game by two so I wasn't worried. We weren't getting beat at that point, we were beating ourselves."

"Taylor [Hayne] and Maddy [Steward] did a great job, and [the Braves'] service game was very good," Painter said. "We weren't able to get the ball to the net with our passing, so we were not able to run the plays we wanted to run."

When North's attack became predictable, as Painter indicated, that set up a great night for South's middles. The unsung heroes for the Braves, in fact, were probably Taylor and Brittney Pink, who combined for 15 blocks.

"They really stepped up," Minnick agreed when asked about Taylor and Pink. "North was keying on our outsides, and the middles did what we need them to do."

"Everyone played well," Hayne said. "Our middles, our right sides, our serving, our setting - everyone came together, and it paid off in the end."

Terre Haute South 25 23 25 25
Terre Haute North 16 25 14 14

Highlights - For South, Taylor Hayne had 18 kills, 14 digs, a block, an assist, 8 points and 2 aces; Sloan Stephens had 19 assists, 2 kills, a block, 16 points and 5 aces; Madison Steward had 19 digs, 16 kills and 6 points; Ashley Bazier had 22 assists and 4 digs; Taylor Lock had 16 digs, 8 points and an ace; Marissa Coutinho had 11 digs, 9 points and an ace; Katie Moon had 5 digs, 2 assists, a kill, 9 points and 2 aces; Morgan Taylor had 9 blocks, 4 digs and a kill; Kaitlyn Pluta had 6 kills, 4 digs, 2 blocks and an assist; and Brittney Pink had 6 blocks and 5 kills.

For North, Laura Mauer had 28 assists, 6 kills, 6 digs, a block, 10 points and 2 aces; Kinzi Kiefer had 9 digs, 6 kills, 6 blocks, an assist, 3 points and 2 aces; Katlyn Anderson had 15 digs, 5 kills, a block, an assist and 3 points; Mary Kate Etling had 13 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocks, 2 assists and 2 points; Kristyn Moss had 7 digs, 3 kills, 9 points and an ace; Danielle Krupa had 7 kills, 4 digs, a block, 2 points and an ace; Lauren Isaacs had 8 digs and 3 assists; and Niki Sneddon had 5 digs and an assist.

JV - North won 25-6, 25-13.

Next - Both South (14-6, 3-0 Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference) and North (11-3, 2-1) have MIC matches on Saturday at Ben Davis against the Giants and Warren Central.

If you have questions or would like additional information about the event, contact Union Hospital Foundation at 812-238-7534