VB 2A REG. 21: Eastern Hancock sweeps Heritage Christian

By Hancock County Sports

Eastern Hancock swept Heritage Christian to win the IHSAA Class 2A volleyball regional Tuesday night.

The Royals won 25-22, 25-22, 25-18 to clinch the regional championship. It was EH's first volleyball regional title in its history -- coming on the heels of the school's first volleyball sectional in 28 years -- and the first regional championship for any EHHS girls sport.

It was also the first regional title for an EHHS team since the boys basketball team advanced to the 2003 semistate.

The Royals (28-9) will travel to Forest Park on Saturday for the semistate, where they will face Clarksville Providence (33-4) in the 11 a.m. semifinal. Ritter (26-9) and Eastern Greene (35-2) will meet in the second semifinal. The title match will be at 7 p.m.

Our HancockCountySports.com Co-Player of the Match Frannie Stephenson had 11 kills, nine digs and an ace for the Royals. Fellow Co-Player of the Match Jordian Eastes had 22 assists, eight digs and five aces. Hannah Best had 15 digs, four kills and an ace. Melissa Bedell had five kills, two blocks and an ace.  Emily Jeffries had four kills and two blocks. Lauren Harmon also had three kills and three blocks. Bekah Dickmander had three kills. Lytia Vanderpool added eight digs for the Royals.

Sophomore Peyton Fallis led Heritage Christian with 11 kills. HC finishes 14-20.

Semistate tickets are on sale in the EHHS athletic office for $9 -- make checks payable to EHHS Athletics. A fan bus will also be leaving Eastern Hancock at 6:15 a.m. Saturday. A sign-up list is located in the athletic office.

IHSAA Class 2A semistates
Saturday, Oct. 27
At Forest Park
11 a.m.: Eastern Hancock (28-9) vs. Clarksville Providence (33-4)
12:30 p.m.: Ritter (26-9) vs. Eastern Greene (35-2)
7 p.m.: Championship
At Bremen
11 a.m.: Adams Central (22-8) vs. Southwood (25-12)
12:30 p.m.: Wapahani (30-4) vs. Rochester (30-8)
7 p.m.: Championship
State Finals: Saturday, Nov. 3 at Worthen Arena, Muncie

Tuesday's 2A regional results
Adams Central d. Westview 26-24, 25-13, 25-20
Southwood d. Clinton Central 25-21, 25-18, 25-16
Wapahani d. Madison-Grant 25-16, 25-14, 25-20
Rochester d. Wheeler 22-25, 27-25, 25-13, 21-25, 18-16
Eastern Hancock d. Heritage Christian 25-22, 25-22, 25-18
Clarksville Providence d. Southwestern (Jefferson) 25-8, 25-12, 25-20
Eastern Greene d. Evansville Mater Dei 27-29, 25-19, 25-21, 25-21
Ritter d. Speedway 25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 25-19

Also of note: Defending 3A champion Yorktown advanced to the semistate with a 25-18, 25-16, 21-25, 25-20 victory over Bellmont. The Tigers, the lone Hoosier Heritage Conference representative to advance in the tournament, will play South Bend St. Joseph in the second semifinal at Plymouth. ... Hauser made a second Mid-Hoosier Conference team in the semistate. The Jets beat Lutheran 20-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-14 to advance to the Class A semistate at Loogootee. Hauser finished third in the MHC behind EH and Edinburgh.

Archived webcast: (note: we experienced technical difficulties at approximately the 45:00 mark, but the first two sets + part of the third are archived. We apologize for the technical issues we experienced, and are working hard to correct them at this time).