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Indianapolis Star
3 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
IHSAA girls volleyball preview: Central Indiana sleeper teams entering 2025 under the radar
There are a number of Central Indiana high school girls volleyball teams beyond those included in our preseason Fab 15 who are capable of challenging for a sectional title and potentially a deep state tournament run. Let's take a closer look at some of those teams — most of whom will probably appear in those area rankings later this season. The Orioles will be breaking in a new setter under the direction of a new coach next season. But coach Kyla Thomas has ample experience in her lineup, particularly on the attack, which returns kill leaders Avery Walter, Aniah Kilburn and Milyn Kirsh. The defense will likely transition leadership to an underclassman, sophomore Stella Hamood, who logged 306 digs (most among returners) and a team-leading 45 aces over 98 sets last fall. The schedule — which opens with Center Grove, Yorktown, Bellmont and Tri-West — will have this group ready for postseason play. IndyStar preseason Super Team: Get to know Central Indiana's best players Coach Jonni Parker returns a lot of talent in her second season, headlined by juniors London Evans, a Marquette-bound setter/right side, and Lila Bruszewski, a Charleston-bound outside hitter. The defense is also experienced with junior Tennie Anderson and senior Lexi Kedvesh both returning. Filling in the attack beyond Bruszewski will be key. Junior Emily Overbeck led the team in kills last season and there are a number of newcomers eager to make an impact: Freshman Caroline Far (outside) and sophomores Alaina Mclendon (middle), Sydney Clouse (outside) and Addison Kilroy (setter/right side). The Crusaders graduated just one senior and return an all-state honoree in outside hitter Kenzie Mann. That's a terrific foundation for a group that saw record turnout for tryouts (50 girls!) and has experience returning at middle hitter (Raven Russell) and setter (Kadison Oppy). Russell, a 6-3 senior, logged 109 blocks and 117 kills last season. Injuries may hamper the Tigers early on, but their overall depth, defensive prowess and talent on the block (see: 6-1 junior Lana Mays, who had 72 blocks in 2024) has them lurking as a potential party-crasher in Sectional 8. Setter Ava Tester and Ella Dragoo figure to serve as the battery on the attack, which first-year coach Kimberly Baker expects to play at a fast tempo and with more consistency. Look for newcomers Alana Kay — who's projected to start at middle blocker as a freshman — Caitlyn Gutt (opposite/setter) and Katie Brinkruff (DS) to have an impact this year, alongside senior outside Kylie Wilson. Junior outside Laila Love is recovering from a back injury. The graduation of record-setting hitter Abby Kaminski means the Flashes will have a more balanced offense this season, with middles Brenna Storz (Central Michigan commit) and Brooklyn Wake expected to take on more prominent roles. The team's talent on the outside raises expectations, as well, with returning sophomore Ryelle Koomler joined by incoming freshman Delaney Cooper. Tying together the offense: Setter Emily Williams, a rising junior whose ability to block and defend will help compensate for the loss of Kaminski. FC brings depth defensively, as well, with Katie Bailey and Kinley Huotari joined by Roncalli transfer Cicily Boarders. The Wildcats will be very inexperienced, but they have a few strong foundational pieces to build upon. Setter Kyra Joostberns picked up 743 assists (9.5 per set) and 45 aces as a sophomore, while Anna Joostberns and Addie Hammel provide depth behind senior libero Jayda Vanoskey, an IU-Columbus commit. Addie Knox, coach Nick Cox's "utility player," will occupy the outside opposite Amaya Zander, who hit .268 and picked up 133 kills as a freshman. Sophomore middles Micah Shanklin and Malia Norfleet will handle things at the net. The Saints graduated three critical seniors and lost their lone returning senior, Delaney Pass, to an ACL injury. So, yeah, there may be some early growing pains. But given time this has potential to be a dangerous group with outside hitter Lillian Pass and setters Reagan Crabtree and Shaefer Scearce ready to lead the retooled offense, and newcomer Sophia Levine poised to make her varsity debut. Coach Kathy Anderson is also high on the potential of junior outside/middle Faith King, who impressed through the first week of practice. The Marauders will be adapting the pace of their offense as they replace setter Ava Whitmore, but there is ample experience returning for this senior-driven group which returns 10 varsity players. Evansville commit Aubry Dowling anchors what should be a very solid defense, with Emersyn Llewellyn bringing additional depth. Seniors Alivia Morgan in the middle and Sierra Holverson on the outside (and DS), and transfer Da'aliyah Kemp will be key figures on the attack. Freshman Sophie Rahmany will likely step in as setter. Mt. Vernon poses the biggest threat to Yorktown in Sectional 9. Last season marked the Panthers' first sub-.500 finish since 2020. They're looking to get back to 20 wins this season and have the talent to challenge for a sectional title. They'll be strongest on offense with the core trio of Rose Strabala at setter, Maddie Follman on the outside and Maya Loy in the middle bolstered by the arrival of newcomers Sophia Reeves, Lily Orr and Kenleigh Schueller. Coach Wong Boodrasang expects his team to be stronger defensively, but it's unclear who will sport the libero jersey. A match to circle: Oct. 7 at Lawrence North, which will likely determine the MIC champion.
Indianapolis Star
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
His brother is at IU. But Center Grove DE Kobe Cherry to forge own path at Purdue
Picture this: Old Oaken Bucket game, two or three years from now. Purdue defensive end Kobe Cherry comes off the corner from his defensive end position and gets to the quarterback. What does Kobe do if that quarterback is his brother, Tyler Cherry? Sack him, of course. 'Absolutely,' Kobe Cherry said. 'We are both working incredibly hard and taking the correct steps to find ourselves out on the field in that Big Ten matchup.' Kobe, a 6-5, 275-pound senior defensive lineman at Center Grove, announced his commitment to Purdue on Monday night, picking the Boilermakers over his other finalists — IU and Wisconsin. Choosing Purdue meant going to the rival school of his brother, Tyler, a former star quarterback at Center Grove, who will serve as a student coach for the upcoming season as he recovers from a knee injury. Despite the IU-Purdue rivalry, Kobe said Tyler was 100% behind his decision. 'Tyler is more than unbelievably proud of me and the decision I've made,' Kobe said. 'He has been through it himself and he knows that I look up to him so he couldn't be more proud and excited to see where the future takes me. Tyler's advice to me was that the hard work and dedication does not stop here. It is an unbelievable accomplishment, but I have to keep my head straight and keep grinding.' Cherry quickly rose in the recruiting rankings with a breakout sophomore season that saw him make 70 tackles and three sacks. He picked up an offer from IU after the season, and later adding offers from Louisville, Minnesota, Toledo, Wisconsin, Western Michigan and Purdue. But after suffering a knee injury, Cherry missed his entire junior football season. Missing that time has made Cherry even hungrier for his senior year. 'I trusted the plan that God has laid out for me and put my situation in his hands,' Cherry said. 'My goals for my senior year are to lead my team to another state championship for Center Grove and show why I am a top defensive player in the country after missing last season.' Cherry said he plans to graduate early and enroll at Purdue in January. That means missing his senior year of baseball, a sport where he also excels. In three seasons as a pitcher for the Trojans, he posted a 12-2 record with 2.37 earned run average. 'Baseball was always a love for me,' he said. 'Same with football. But as my body grew and developed, I found myself falling in love with football more and more every day and now am in the best situation I could have possibly asked for.' That situation makes Cherry part of the current 18-player high school recruiting class for new Purdue coach Barry Odom. Other in-state recruits in the class are Lawrence Central three-star offensive linemen James Williams Jr. and Brock Brownfield of New Palestine. Cherry said defensive line coach Kelvin Green, defensive ends coach Jake Trump and defensive analyst Daryl Lydon were all key contacts for him in his recruitment. 'If I was going to be in contact with one, I was going to be in contact with all of them,' Cherry said. 'That's how their brotherhood works. Extremely close. But overall, it's all about the people and Purdue has the best people to build a football program around.' Green told Cherry he likes versatility in his defensive linemen. Cherry fits the bill. 'He likes his defensive linemen to know the playbook and be able to play every position across the defensive line,' he said. 'And he sees me doing that.' The objective now for Cherry: Get ready for a big senior season. And help recruit more Boilermakers. 'Coach Odom spoke about using me to recruit,' Cherry said. 'I am open to using (my profile) to add some Boilermakers in the upcoming years.'
USA Today
16-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Top 2028 in-state quarterback Oscar Sloan to camp at Notre Dame
Top 2028 in-state quarterback Oscar Sloan to camp at Notre Dame Notre Dame is set to host one of the best quarterbacks in the Class of 2028 for a prospects camp Monday. Center Grove (Greenwood, IN) sophomore Oscar Sloan will be in South Bend after he unofficially visited campus for the first time April 2. The 6-foot-2, 170-pounder has scholarship offers from Maryland and Purdue, among others, and he is also on the radar of programs such as Nebraska and Penn State. While Notre Dame has yet to get a 2027 quarterback pledge, it isn't stopping Marcus Freeman and his staff from showing interest in some of the top signal-callers in the 2028 cycle. Noah Grubbs is the lone QB committed in the 2026 cycle. Sloan spent his eighth-grade campaign at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, before starting his high school career at Center Grove. He started all junior-varsity games as a freshman and played in a couple varsity games as well, and he projects as the varsity starter this fall. Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions. Follow Dave on X: Miller_Dave
Indianapolis Star
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
He thought his error was a season-ender... Then he scored winning run to send team to state final
MOORESVILLE – Evansville North left fielder Tyler Land seized the opportunity to atone for what looked like a season-ending mistake late Saturday night during the Class 4A semistate championship game against Center Grove. Land dropped a seventh inning fly ball from Grady Grant, allowing the runner to advance to second base. Grant moved to third on a wild pitch, putting the winning run 90 feet from home. Reliever Conner Watson got the Huskies out of the jam, forcing extra innings, but Land's redemption arc was not complete. Land led off the ninth inning with a single. Jake Wilke's double moved him to third, and Land came home on a wild pitch, scoring the eventual winning run and sending the Huskies to a 2-1 victory over the Trojans. Evansville North (25-8) advances to face Valparaiso (25-5) in the Class 4A championship game Saturday at Victory Field. "I was down, my head was down coming into the dugout and coach (Jeremy) Jones told me to keep my head up," Land said after his late-game error. "All my teammates had my back. They just said, 'flush it'. It didn't hurt the team, nothing to hang my head about, it was in the past." Overcoming Land's error was just one of the heroic efforts Evansville North used to hold off Center Grove. A walk and an error put a runner on third with no outs in the bottom of the eighth. With runners on the corners and one out, the Huskies moved their center fielder Mason Renfro to the infield, playing with just two outfielders to prevent anything on the ground from getting through. Reliever A.J. Baggett forced two fly ball outs, both to Land, ending the inning and setting up the Huskies' winning run in the ninth. "We talk a lot about culture and heart, and more than anything else — we don't kill the baseball, our defense is OK, pitching is pretty good, but more than anything else — we have heart," Jones said. "Ty made the mistake but we told him, 'That's OK.' For him to come up and hit that missile up the middle, I'm so proud of him." Land finished 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Daniel Cranick and Carson Conley added two hits each. Evansville North's ability to produce with runners in scoring position was something Center Grove failed to do all night. The Trojans left 12 runners on base and had just one hit with runners in scoring position. Carson Bush drove in Center Grove's lone run with an RBI single in the fifth. Evansville North starter Braden Perry, Watson and Baggett allowed just five hits and one earned run over nine innings. Kellen Thomson pitched five scoreless innings for Center Grove. Andrew Murphy took the loss, allowing one run and two hits over four innings, striking out five. "It's demoralizing," Center Grove coach Keith Hatfield said of the inability to score with runners in scoring position. "Six times we left two guys on, that's not normally what we do. ... To go through that and leave as many guys on base as we did, that's not characteristic." Heading to Victory Field puts Evansville North one win away from completing a Cinderella season. The Huskies started the season 2-2, pulled out three close wins before losing to Evansville Memorial 11-1. Evansville North went just 5-4 in the Southern Indiana Conference, but the Huskies caught fire when it mattered most and are heading to the championship game on a seven-game win streak. "It's never the same guy. It could be our 15th guy on the bench, it doesn't matter," Jones said. "These guys believe in each other, they love each other, they're truly a family. And I'm so proud of them."
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Center Grove wins golf regional crown
The high school golf season came to an end for local golfers Thursday at the IHSAA regional at Champions Pointe Golf Club in Henryville. Center Grove posted a sub-300 team score of 298 to take first place honors on the day. Franklin was second with 304 and Floyd Central took third with 313. Those three teams advance to the state finals at Prairie View Golf Club June 17-18. Advertisement Greensburg's Colten Schroeder competed in the regional as an individual and finished his high school career with an 83. 'Colten didn't play his best today, but we are still proud of all his accomplishments as a Pirate,' Coach Gindling noted. 'I'm very glad I got to coach him for this year, and I look forward to seeing what he does at Defiance College.' Batesville also competed in the regional. The Bulldogs took fifth place overall with a 318 total, just five strokes off the state qualifying spot. Ian Hixson led the way for Batesville with a 76. Jackson Day was three strokes back with 79. Henry Koehne finished with 80. Cooper Phebus had an 83 and Landon Raver was a shot back with 84. Advertisement The top three individuals from non-qualifying teams advancing to the state finals are Providence's Blaine Beckort (70), Greenwood Christian's Noah Reed (70) and Columbus North's Austin Perry (74). Final teams scores were Center Grove 298, Franklin 304, Floyd Central 313, Columbus North 315, Batesville 318, Providence 321, Corydon Central 323, Greenwood 324, Madison 330, Hagerstown 338, Connersville 339, Shelbyville 340, Scottsburg 344, Northeastern 347 and Southwestern Hanover 355.
