Southwood moved out of Rochester’s volleyball sectional

Culver to host volleyball sectional, regional; Argos to host girls, boys soccer sectionals

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Rochester will host a volleyball sectional, and they will no longer be in a sectional with Southwood, according to the IHSAA Executive Committee meeting minutes released Monday.

Southwood was moved from Sectional 38 to Sectional 36 in Class 2A, according to the IHSAA’s release of the meeting minutes. That will put Southwood in a sectional with Manchester, Wabash, Whitko, Adams Central and South Adams.

Southwood’s enrollment puts them in Class 1A for every sport except for volleyball. Southwood is a five-time defending sectional champion and a four-time defending regional champion in volleyball. They moved up to Class 2A for the 2024-25 school year after winning a Class 1A regional in the fall of 2022 and the 1A state title in 2023, per the IHSAA Success Factor.

By winning back-to-back regionals in Class 2A in 2024 and 2025, they were to remain in Class 2A, per the Success Factor rules.

When sectional assignments were released March 31, Southwood was placed in Sectional 38, which is Rochester’s sectional. In fact, Southwood was set to host the sectional.

That changed Monday.

The IHSAA did not list a reason for the change. Southwood volleyball coach and athletic director Tom Finicle is an IHSAA Executive Committee member. It is unclear what, if any, role Finicle had in the change.

Southwood’s move means that both Sectional 36 and 38 have six teams. When the sectional assignments were originally released, Sectional 36 had five teams and Sectional 38 had seven.

Southwood’s top three hitters from last year – Shania Rhamy, Hali Pershing and Taylor Haecker – are expected to return. Rhamy is a Kentucky recruit, and Pershing is a Bethel recruit.

Southwood went 9-0 last year in the Three Rivers Conference, winning all 27 sets. They also went 3-0 in the sectional, winning all nine sets. They also swept Wapahani in the semistate semifinal before falling to Benton Central in the semistate final.

As for Rochester, their volleyball sectional now looks identical to their girls basketball and boys basketball sectionals: They are in a group with Eastern (Greentown), Lewis Cass, Maconaquah, Oak Hill and Peru.

The IHSAA also announced that Rochester will not host a volleyball semistate. Rochester hosted the 4A semistate last fall. Plymouth and Delphi will replace Rochester and Frankfort as northern semistate hosts.

In other area volleyball news, Culver will host a Class 1A sectional and a regional.

Other area volleyball host sites include West Noble (Class 3A, Sectional 20), Bremen (Class 2A, Sectional 34), South Newton (Class 1A, Sectional 50) and Cowan (Class 1A, Sectional 55).

Volleyball sectionals will be held Oct. 13-17. Regionals follow on Oct. 24, semistates are Oct. 31, and the state finals will be at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Nov. 7.

In other fall sports news, Argos will host Class 1A, Sectional 36 in both girls and boys soccer.

Also, Manchester will host a cross-country sectional and regional. Manchester has been the traditional sectional host site, but this is the first time that they have hosted the regional since the IHSAA changed the tournament format and eliminated the semistate prior to the 2023-24 school year.

RTC area fall sports sectional sites

Girls golf (Sept. 17-21)

Sectional 5 at Twin Lakes (Tippecanoe Country, Club, Monticello): CASTON, DeMotte Christian, Kankakee Valley, Logansport, North Newton, PIONEER, Rensselaer, ROCHESTER, South Newton, Tri-County, Twin Lakes, WINAMAC

Sectional 8 at Warsaw (Stonehenge Golf Club, Winona Lake): Bremen, Columbia City, CULVER, Culver Academy, Manchester, NorthWood, Plymouth, TIPPECANOE VALLEY, Triton, Warsaw, Wawasee, Whitko

Sectional 12 at Western (Chippendale Golf Course, Kokomo): Eastern (Greentown), Kokomo, Lewis Cass, Maconaquah, NORTH MIAMI, Northwestern, Peru, Taylor, Tri-Central, Western

Boys tennis (Sept. 29-Oct. 3)

Sectional 52 at Peru: Maconaquah, Manchester, Peru, ROCHESTER, Wabash

Sectional 61 at Warsaw: Columbia City, TIPPECANOE VALLEY, Whitko, Warsaw, Wawasee

Cross-country (Oct. 17)

Sectional 6 at Manchester: ARGOS, Columbia City, CULVER, Culver Academy, Huntington North, Lakeland Christian, Manchester, NORTH MIAMI, Northfield, Plymouth, ROCHESTER, TIPPECANOE VALLEY, Triton, Wabash, Warsaw, Whitko

Sectional 11 at Logansport: Carroll (Flora), CASTON, Clinton Central, Clinton Prairie, Eastern (Greentown), Frankfort, Kokomo, Lewis Cass, Logansport, Maconaquah, Northwestern, Peru, PIONEER, Rossville, Taylor, Western

Sectional 5 at Rensselaer: Benton Central, DeMotte Christian, Frontier, Kankakee Valley, Knox, North Judson, North Newton, North White, Rensselaer, South Newton, Tri-County, Twin Lakes, West Central, WINAMAC

Girls soccer (Oct. 5-10)

Class 2A, Sectional 22 at Culver Academy: Culver Academy, Eastern (Greentown), Maconaquah, Northwestern, TIPPECANOE VALLEY

Class 1A, Sectional 36 at Argos: ARGOS, CULVER, Manchester, NORTH MIAMI, Peru, ROCHESTER, Wabash

Boys soccer (Oct. 5-10)

Class 2A, Sectional 22 at Wabash: Eastern (Greentown), Maconaquah, Northwestern, Oak Hill, Peru, ROCHESTER, TIPPECANOE VALLEY, Wabash

Class 1A, Sectional 36 at Argos: ARGOS, CASTON, CULVER, Lakeland Christian, Manchester, NORTH MIAMI, WINAMAC

Volleyball (Oct. 13-17)

Class 3A, Sectional 20 at West Noble: Columbia City, Fairfield, NorthWood, TIPPECANOE VALLEY, Wawasee, West Noble

Class 2A, Sectional 34 at Bremen: Bremen, Jimtown, Knox, LaVille, South Bend Career Academy, South Central (Union Mills), WINAMAC

Class 2A, Sectional 38 at Rochester: Eastern (Greentown), Lewis Cass, Maconaquah, Oak Hill, Peru, ROCHESTER

Class 1A, Sectional 50 at South Newton: CASTON, DeMotte Christian, North Newton, North White, PIONEER, South Newton, Tri-County, West Central

Class 1A, Sectional 51 at Culver: ARGOS, CULVER, Elkhart Christian, North Judson, Oregon-Davis, Tri-Township, Triton

Class 1A, Sectional 55 at Cowan: Cowan, Daleville, Madison-Grant, NORTH MIAMI, Northfield, Southern Wells, Wes-Del

Football (Oct. 23, Oct. 30, Nov. 6)

Unified Flag Football (Oct. 3)

Sectional 3 at Homestead: Carroll (Fort Wayne), Homestead, Manchester, New Haven, TIPPECANOE VALLEY, Warsaw

Key dates

Girls golf: Sept. 26 (regionals), Oct. 2-3 (state finals at Prairie View Golf Club, Carmel)

Boys tennis: Oct. 6-7 (team regionals), Oct. 10 (team semistates), Oct. 16-17 (at North Central High School, Indianapolis)

Cross-country: Oct. 24 (regionals), Oct. 31 (state finals at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross-Country Course, Terre Haute)

Girls soccer: Oct. 14 (regional semifinals), Oct. 17 (regional finals), Oct. 24 (semistates), Oct. 30-31 (at IU Indianapolis)

Boys soccer: Oct. 15 (regional semifinals), Oct. 17 (regional finals), Oct. 24 (semistates), Oct 30-31 (at IU Indianapolis)

Volleyball: Oct. 24 (regionals), Oct. 31 (semistates), Nov. 7 (state finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse)

Football: Oct. 23 (sectionals), Oct. 30 (sectionals), Nov. 6 (sectionals), Nov. 13 (regionals), Nov. 20 (semistates), Nov. 27-28 (state finals at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis)

Unified Flag Football: Oct. 10 (regionals), Oct. 17 (state finals at Grand Park Sports Event Center, Westfield)

Draw dates

Unified flag football – Sept. 20

Boys tennis, girls soccer, boys soccer – Sept. 27

Volleyball – Oct. 4

Football – Oct. 11