Written by Trey Meier, Staff Writer
The Indian Trail Girls Volleyball team put on quite the show against a solid Bradford squad amongst a packed crowd in this early season conference matchup on September 14th. The Hawks dominated the first two sets of the match winning 25-19, and 25-23, respectively. After a few questionable calls by the officials in set three, they lost 25-14, but Indian Trail bounced back to secure the big victory after a competitive 25-21 set four.
The Hawks were led by high flying senior Maddie Haines and junior Bella Bratzke, who combined for a total of 34 kills and 41 digs. Setting up those high fliers were Bry- anna Gonzalez and Angelica Cuevas, who combined for an impressive 46 assists. Nina Savaglio also pitched in with some scrappy play, along with Sasha Obradovich, who had a few key blocks throughout the match.
The win was just one of a plethora of matches the Hawks have captured to begin the season, although the taste of victory might have been a little sweeter in a heated rivalry game like this.
Haines, IUPUI commit and three-time captain of the team, credits the team chemistry to the success they’ve been having.
“Our serving as a team is very strong and so is our chemistry as a team. We are a majority upperclassmen team so we have all played with each other for a while, so we’re very comfortable on the court and work well together,” Haines said.
The goals for the team are nothing short of ambitious, and the Hawks believe they have what it takes to make some noise this year at the state level.
“The team’s goal is to be regional champs and hopefully fight our way to sectional champs to go to state,” said Haines. “We also would love to take rest at the conference tournament for a second time in a row.”
These goals, however, will be tough to attain if the team doesn’t stay motivated to get better. Though, this doesn’t seem to be a problem for the Hawks.
“I think we just have to keep working on the consistency of our passes and keep our hitting errors low,” suggested Haines.
“We’re working hard at all the practices to get better each day,” she said.
The much anticipated return of the injured Katie Beuhler, who is a senior captain, is expected to give the team a boost when the time comes as well.
There is a lot to look forward to as the season progresses, and the Hawks have a great chance to do something special this year.