The Floyd Central Highlanders won their second Indiana Boys Volleyball Coaches Association sectional title in five sets Saturday in Jeffersonville. Floyd advances to the regional round and will face Roncalli this Saturday at 10 a.m. at Franklin Community.
JEFFERSONVILLE — Top-seeded Floyd Central came from behind to win Saturday night in Jeffersonville, winning its second Indiana Boys Volleyball Coaches Association sectional title.
The Highlanders came back from an early deficit to defeat rival New Albany 21-25, 25-23, 27-25, 23-25, 15-10 at Johnson Arena for their first championship since 2019.
Floyd (14-3) advances to play the Roncalli Royals (29-5) in Game 1 of the semifinals this Saturday at 10 a.m. at Franklin Regional. The host Grizzly Cubs (25-5) will face Westfield (25-4) around noon, with the winner set to play in the regional championship that night at 6 p.m.
“I think it's good for the program, especially next year as we're going to be an (IHSAA) sanctioned sport, so we're going to get off to a good start,” Floyd Central junior Carter Wheatley said. He got some important kills in the final set.
Floyd Central senior Riley Mingus picked up the IBVCA division trophy after the Highlanders defeated New Albany 3-2 Saturday night in Jeffersonville.
The Highlanders defeated Silver Creek 25-20, 25-19, 25-15 in the semifinals to advance to the title match. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs bounced back, defeating the host Red Devils 22-25, 25-13, 30-28, 25-20 in the other semifinal.
become a sport
Late last month, the IHSAA Board of Directors approved full recognition of men's volleyball starting next school year (2024-25).
With that full recognition, the sport will host an IHSAA state tournament starting next spring.
“I think it's about time,” Floyd Central head coach Kelly Robinson said. “We've been doing the program for 10 years, but next year will be our first official year. It's great that all of these kids have the opportunity to play volleyball.”
Since being added to the IHSAA Emerging Sports Process in 2022, men's volleyball has seen significant growth over the past 24 months. Approximately 120 schools participated this season.
“I played for the Fishers and was on the first team in 2007 and graduated in 2008,” New Albany head coach Ryan Woosley said. “If you go back around, when I played, there were probably 40 teams and they were in the greater Indianapolis area. Now, to see that here in the South and to be able to play a small role in that, it's great. It's great to see because we're going to see a lot more players who weren't able to represent their school (previously).”
Albany's rising senior Landen Kirk spikes against Floyd Central's Carter Wheatley and Nathan Rushing in the IBVCA Jeffersonville Sectional finals on Saturday.
decide on a title
In the decisive fifth set, the Highlanders trailed 9-7 before winning eight of the next nine points and the match was over.
Wheatley's second kill of the set gave Floyd a 10-9 lead.
“After Carson Mingus's great set, I took them down as hard as I could. That was props to him,” Wheatley said.
Luke Piper led the way for Floyd with 20 of the team's 53 kills. Will Croft added 13 points and Wheatley finished with 12 points.
“Luke plays a big role offensively. He's a beast, almost unstoppable,” Robinson said of the junior attacker. “If we just pass and get the ball to Luke, we should win.”
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs had 58 total kills, with Davis Barber leading the team with 18 kills and Ben Siegel adding 15 kills. Collin Thurston led New Albany with six aces, and Henry Ryan added three aces.
The Bulldogs (14-6) will lose six seniors, including Landen Kirk, Thurston, Colin Kruer, Ryan, Siegel and Zacke Ewell.
Albany's new senior Henry Ryan will serve Floyd Central in Saturday's IBVCA Jeffersonville Section final. Ryan totaled three aces for the Bulldogs.
“We are graduating six great players,” Woosley said. “Ryan, our libero, is the best dig leader of all time. Colin Thurston has over 500 digs, second most. Our middle, Siegel, has been playing for three years. It's been great to watch him grow and develop. Landen Kirk is a great motivator and competitor. Zacke Ewell has been a setter this year. They're great kids. Leadership will be difficult to replace.”
Highlanders comeback
After dropping the first set, the Highlanders won the second and third sets.
Floyd Central tied the score at 22-all in the second set. The Highlanders had a total of nine kills in the second set and relied on their offense. Croft, Piper, Wheatley and Nathan Rushing each had two.
In the third set, Piper powered the Highlanders with five kills, while Croft and Rushing each added two kills.
New Albany took the fourth set and stopped Floyd Central's comeback. Barber led the Dogs with three kills and Kirk added one kill.
“Barbour has a tremendous amount of energy and firepower,” Woosley said. “He's a junior and he's going to come back next year and be a great leader. He's a little spark plug, scoring some balls when the rest of the team can't. We're not super huge. So we have to play a little bit smaller. He provides life and is one of our linguistic leaders and a catalyst.”
Tyson Garmon kept the Highlanders at bay in the fourth set with two blocks. Croft and Piper still found a way to score against New Albany's blockers with two kills each.
Floyd Central junior Luke Piper spikes his boots against New Albany during the IBVCA Jeffersonville Sectional on Saturday at Johnson Arena. Piper led the Highlanders with 20 kills.
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Cross section of the Jefferson Building
Final game Saturday night at Johnson Arena.
Floyd Central 3, New Albany 2
New Albany 25 23 25 25 10 — 2
Floyd Central 21 25 27 23 15 — 3
Number of kills: NA — Davis Barber 18, Ben Siegel 15, Landen Kirk 12, Isaac Zuluaga 7, Tyson Garmon 6 FC — Luke Piper 20, Will Croft 13, Carter Wheatley 12, Nathan Rushing 7, Carson・Mingus
assist: NA — Zacke Ewell 44. FC — Mingus 56.
Ace: NA — Colin Thurston 6, Henry Ryan 3, Garrett Skeens 2, Ewell 1.
block: NA — Ewell 2, Garmon 2, Barber 1, Siegel 1. FC — Rushing 4, Piper 3, Wheatley 1.
dig: NA — Ryan 26, Zuluaga 15, Barber 14, Thurston 12, Ewell 7. FC — Riley Mingus 28, Croft 16, Jacob Cromwell 15.
