Lady Braves making 8th straight trip to finals

BROWNSTOWN — The Brownstown Central volleyball team has prepared this week for Saturday’s state finals.

The Lady Braves are among the final four teams in Class 2A for the eighth straight year, and they have been the runners-up seven times.

With some changes this year, Brownstown (29-4) will face familiar foe Muncie Burris (38-0) in the semifinal game of the state finals rather than in the championship game.

The Owls have won state every year since 1997, and they lead the state with 20 state titles.

The teams will play the second semifinal game on Saturday at Delta High School in Muncie. Southwood and Fairfield will play the first game at 9 a.m.

“We have one goal and that’s to win state,” Braves coach Jennifer Shade said after last weekend’s regional win at Eastern Greene.

She was confident that if the team had good practices this week and does things it is capable of doing in Saturday’s game, “What do we have to lose?” she said.

“That’s part of our goal, and we’re not going to go down without a fight,” Shade said. “This is such a neat experience for any kid. We’ve got some kids that haven’t gone through this before, between the state banquet and the way the state finals are ran. It’s just such a neat experience, and to say that you’re going to the state finals, there are very few kids left in the state able to do that, and we’ve got Brownstown going there.”

One thing’s for sure, Shade said, is that the Owls will be quick.

“We have to be fast,” she said. “We have to run our quick-paced offense. We have to be able to beat the block. We’ve got to work on blocking because (the Owls) are going to do the same thing back to us. Serving aggressive so that they can’t set up their offense, hitting aggressive so they can’t set up their offense, there’s just a lot of strategy in that.”

Burris has only given up five sets all year, while Brownstown has given up 14.

Shade said the competition the Braves faced late in the season will help them in playing a team like Burris.

“We’ve played some teams close to their level, so I think we did get that experience,” Shade said. “That’s what we build our schedule up to do, peaking at this time of year. Our team is doing really well right now. We’re playing very good right now. We’re beating teams right now. That’s what we’ve got to do to get where we’re at.”

Shade feels she has a good mix of girls to get the job done.

“They are going to be good, but we’re a good team, too,” Shade said. “These girls are going to have an experience of a lifetime. I love taking girls year after year. It doesn’t get old at all.”

Team statistical leaders

Brownstown Central
Kills: Katelyn Shoemaker 344, Emily Sommers 281, Emily Hackman 175, Olivia Hackman 161, Whitley Hall 149; team 1,264
Assists: Sammie Bane 1,151
Digs: Briana Baughman 384, Shoemaker 205, Hall 183, Bane 141, Natalie Killey 135; team 1,212
Blocks: Sommers 55, Shoemaker 29, E. Hackman 21; team 142
Muncie Burris
Kills: Taylor Morey 311, Taylor Unroe 279, Chelsea Toth 246, Hannah Clemmons 139, Tanna Jones 107; team 1,368
Assists: Allyson Morey 1,114; team 1,243
Digs: T. Morey 273, Unroe 261, Taylor Harnish 237, Kelsey Carr 211, A. Morey 145; team 1,407
Blocks: Toth 39, Jones 26.5, Clemmons 20.5; team 148

Schedules

Semifinals
Class 4A
Yorktown High School, 1100 S. Tiger Drive, Yorktown
Match 1 – Elkhart Memorial (35-2) vs. Floyd Central (35-3), 9 a.m.
Match 2 – Center Grove (33-3) vs. Muncie Central (33-4), follows Match 1
Class 3A
Muncie Central High School, 801 N. Walnut St., Muncie
Match 1 – Mishawaka Marian (33-5) vs. Yorktown (36-1), 9 a.m.
Match 2 – Brebeuf Jesuit (32-1) vs. Silver Creek (27-11), follows Match 1
Class 2A
Delta High School, 3400 E. Ind. 28, Muncie
Match 1 – Southwood (32-5) vs. Fairfield (31-4), 9 a.m.
Match 2 – Brownstown Central (29-4) vs. Muncie Burris (38-0), follows Match 1
Class A
Worthen Arena, Ball State University, 2000 W. University Ave., Muncie
Match 1 – Indianapolis Lutheran (20-16) vs. Wes-Del (27-7), 9 a.m.
Match 2 – Marquette Catholic (32-6) vs. Barr-Reeve (36-0), follows Match 1
State Championships
Worthen Arena, Ball State University, 2000 W. University Ave., Muncie
Class A, 2:30 p.m.
Class 2A, 4:15 p.m.
Class 3A, 6 p.m.
Class 4A, 8:10 p.m.