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Hinderlider tip, Finke kills close out Lady Cavs in nailbiter; Berndt has 17 kills for Culver
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
FULTON — The Caston volleyball team squandered two match points in the third set but recovered to beat visiting Culver 25-18, 25-18, 26-28, 16-25, 15-12 in the Hoosier North opener for both schools Thursday.
Macee Hinderlider had 19 kills, Alexa Finke had 15, and Isabel Scales and Addison Zimpleman had 10 kills each for the Lady Comets, who improved to 4-0 going into the Tomahawk Invitational at North Miami. Makena Middleton added 20 assists. Scales also had 19 digs and 20 serves received.
Brynn Berndt had 17 kills, 17 serves received and nine digs for Culver, who fell to 1-1, 0-1. Avery Garland had six kills, 12 digs and 12 serves received. Grace Sieber had 12 assists and 10 digs. Libero Shelby Olivarez had 39 serves received and 13 digs.
At 12-all in the fifth set, Hinderlider’s tip gave Caston the lead. A Finke kill out of the middle gave Caston another match point, and a Finke tip ended the match.
“I really felt like we still had an opportunity anytime that we were in any set down to come back and make plays,” Caston coach Gina Hierlmeier said when asked what she told her team when she called timeout in the fifth set. “I just told them to go out and play. I felt like we were playing a little tight. We were playing not to lose rather than playing to win. So just try to loosen them up a little bit and make sure they understood that we were completely fine, and we didn't need to start trying to just put the ball in play and hope they would make a mistake.”
Culver coach Andrea Berndt credited Caston with varying their shots at the end, but she also marveled at the intensity of the match.
“It was a little bit off the off-tempo and then placing it,” Berndt said of the difference at the end. “They did have some really nice hits down the line. Macee had a good one. I think it just combined with them stepping up again and us making little mistakes here and there, I just think it was a combination of things. But holy cow, what an amazing game.”
Caston had led 8-5 at one point in the fifth set before Culver scored four straight points to take a 9-8 lead. A Hinderlider kill tied it, and a Culver kill error gave Caston the lead. But a Hinderlider attack went wide right to tie it again, and Sieber gave Culver an 11-10 lead when her off-balance dig somehow flew over the net and landed just inside the sideline.
A Finke kill and a Finke tip gave Caston the lead again, but Garland got it to 12-all when her kill off a tight set deflected off the Caston block and out of bounds.
Caston lost Kinzie Mollenkopf, Bailey Harness, Delaney Lowry and Tayler Shafer from a 25-win team from last year, and some returnees have had to redefine their roles. An example is Zimpleman, who has gone from a defensive specialist to a six-rotation lineup staple who is also expected to provide offense. She said her role is “to mop up the floor,” and she led the Lady Comets with 31 digs in this match.
“I think we still had a lot of grit,” Zimpleman said. “Even though we had some bumps ahead of us, we had to pull together as a team, and I think it was just a different mindset going into that fifth set.
Culver held a 24-20 lead in the third set before Caston went on a 5-0 run capped by a Finke missile just inside the baseline to get it to match point.
Finke wound up out of the middle to put the match away, but Livi Overmyer stuffed her to get it to 25-all. A Hinderlider kill from the opposite made it 26-25, but a Hinderlider back row attack went just long to cap a mesmerizingly long point.
It was 26-26.
Caston couldn’t keep a Garland back row attack off the floor to give Culver their fifth set point. Brynn Berndt’s kill from the outside sent it to a fourth set.
And in the fourth set, Culver then jumped out to an 11-5 lead and cruised to the win as Brynn Berndt had a tip and a kill and Garland had an ace as part of the early run. Meanwhile, Culver retrieved everything Caston had to offer and kept it off the floor.
“The feeling in the locker room right now is they’re disappointed that they lost, but they’re excited that they got here,” coach Berndt said. “I don’t think we’ve ever gone into five with Caston, let alone maybe four sets.
“We’ve been talking about this for a long time. Culver volleyball is an up-and-coming sport. … We’re not there yet, but our challenge now is to stay there, and can we continue to play how we did tonight?”
Hierlmeier, who was the girls basketball coach at Culver from 2012-15, noticed the Lady Cavs’ improvement.
“We were talking in the locker room,” Hierlmeier said. “I give a ton of credit to Culver. I felt like after the first two sets, we were in control, and I don’t know if they made adjustments. I don’t know what she told them, but I turned to my coaching staff at one point and I’m like, ‘I’m not sure how they’re getting to every single ball. Like, every single ball.’ There were times we just kept dishing it out and dishing it out, and they kept the ball in play. So tons of credit go to them as well.”
As for Caston, they will have a rematch with Pioneer, a team they beat in the Cass County Tournament final, on Aug. 24 in their conference meeting.
And the long-range goal is being able to compete with Southwood, the team that has knocked them out of the sectional each of the last two years. In six sets against the Lady Knights, Caston has not scored more than 18 points in any set.
“I think we just have to keep pushing our way,” Zimpleman said. “I don’t want to overlook any teams because I think tonight we did kind of overlook (Culver) a little bit. But I mean, we’re going to have to face Southwood in our sectional, but it’s all preparation for them.”
Caston def. Culver, 25-18, 25-18, 26-28, 16-25, 15-12
Caston stats
Karlee Sommers – 2 kills, 1 block, 3 digs, 1 assist, 8 serves received; Macee Hinderlider – 19 kills, 4 aces, 2 blocks, 10 digs, 1 assist, 19 serves received; Alexa Finke – 15 kills, 2 blocks, 6 digs, 18 serves received; Addison Zimpleman – 10 kills, 2 aces, 31 digs, 3 assists, 15 serves received; Isabel Scales – 10 kills, 1 ace, 1 block, 19 digs, 20 serves received; Makena Middleton – 1 ace, 9 digs, 20 assists; Kylee Logan – 1 dig, 1 assist, 5 serves received; Haley Logan – 2 digs, 4 serves received; Annie Harsh – 2 aces, 15 digs, 24 assists, 1 serve received
Culver stats
Avery Garland – 6 kills, 12 digs, 12 serves received; Brynn Berndt – 17 kills, 9 digs, 17 serves received, 2 blocks; Grace Sieber – 1 kill, 12 assists, 10 digs, 4 serves received; Livi Overmyer – 3 kills, 16 digs, 21 serves received, 4 digs; Meredith Gordon – 4 serves received; Shelby Olivarez – 13 digs, 39 serves received; Tyra King – 2 kills, 1 dig, 1 block; Willow Harrington – 4 digs
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