Rochester draws North Miami, could play Pioneer in sectional final

Valley gets John Glenn; Culver gets another chance vs. Triton; Caston, Argos get byes

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

The Rochester volleyball team will have to defeat two teams they have already beaten if they want to make the sectional final.

Meanwhile, sectional rival and Hoosier North champion Pioneer might have to face Three Rivers Conference power Wabash in a semifinal at the same sectional.

Also, Tippecanoe Valley drew John Glenn in a sectional they will host; Culver will play Triton, and Argos received a bye; and Caston will play Southwood in a semifinal after receiving a bye, according to the IHSAA draw released Sunday.

The four RTC area sectionals will begin on Oct. 13 with semifinals and finals happening Oct. 15. Regionals are set for Oct. 22 with Rochester (Class 2A) and Culver (1A) among the host sites. Semistates will be played at Plymouth and Frankfort on Oct. 29, and the IHSAA state finals will be played at Worthen Arena on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie on Nov. 5.

Sectional tickets are $7 per session or $15 for an all-sectional ticket.

Class 2A, Sectional 36 at Rochester: Pioneer, Rochester

Pioneer has already beaten Rochester twice this year, including a best-of-five meeting at Rochester on Aug. 16. If they were to meet for a third time, it would occur in the Class 2A, Sectional 36 final at Rochester.

First, for Rochester, they drew North Miami in a quarterfinal on Oct. 13. Rochester beat North Miami in three sets in their Three Rivers Conference meeting on Sept. 22 at Rochester.

North Miami has not won a sectional title since 2002 and has not won a sectional match since 2019.

The Rochester-North Miami winner would meet Winamac, who received a bye, in the semifinals. Both Rochester and North Miami own wins over Winamac (6-21) this season. North Miami beat Winamac in a best-of-three match in the Tomahawk Invitational at North Miami on Aug. 20. Rochester beat Winamac in three sets just three days before the draw on senior night at the RHS gym.

In the other half of the draw, Pioneer drew Lewis Cass with the winner to play Wabash.

Pioneer swept Lewis Cass in a best-of-three match in the Cass County Tournament back on Aug. 13.

Lewis Cass plays Wabash Monday in their regular season meeting. Wabash is 18-5 and coming off conference wins over Rochester and Tippecanoe Valley last week.

Pioneer’s run of 15 straight sectional titles ended with a loss to Southwood in a Class 1A sectional final last year. This is Pioneer’s first year in the Class 2A state tournament.

North Miami also bumped up to Class 2A for this two-year cycle.

Class 3A, Sectional 18 at Tippecanoe Valley: Tippecanoe Valley

Valley is 12-12 after winning the Caston Tournament Saturday and will close out the regular season with TRC matches against Rochester (home) Tuesday and Southwood (road) Thursday.

After that, Valley will return home to host Class 3A, Sectional 18.

For Valley to reach the sectional final, they will have to beat John Glenn (8-17) in the quarterfinal and Knox (6-17) in the semifinals.

Valley does not play John Glenn during the regular season. John Glenn has beaten only one team with a winning record (Culver), and that was in a best-of-three match.

Knox does not have a win over a Class 3A opponent, though they do have a win over Class 4A Logansport.

In the other half of the draw, Culver Academy drew Bremen in the semifinals. Culver Academy is a two-time defending sectional champion while Bremen is 5-24.

Class 1A, Sectional 53 at Southwood: Caston

Seeking their first sectional title in school history, Caston (24-6) received a bye and will play Southwood in a Class 1A, Sectional 53 semifinal at Southwood on Oct. 15.

Southwood is 23-2 and suffered their second loss to New Castle on Saturday. Southwood’s other loss was to Frankton, which they later avenged.

Southwood also knocked Caston out of the 2021 sectional on their way to a trophy.

Caston is 3-0 against TRC teams, beating North Miami, Rochester and Peru.

In the other half of the draw, Southern Wells drew Lakeland Christian with the winner to face Northfield. None of those three teams have winning records.

Class 1A, Sectional 50 at Marquette Catholic: Argos, Culver

Argos drew a bye and will play the winner of the Westville-Marquette Catholic matchup in the Class 1A, Sectional 50 semifinals at Marquette Catholic. This marks the third consecutive year Argos has received a bye.

Argos is 1-23 with the win coming against non-IHSAA Granger Christian. Historical records are not entirely clear, but Argos’ only sectional volleyball title came in 1973, and it’s been at least 15 years since Argos won a sectional match.

In the other half of the draw, Culver will play Triton with the winner to play Oregon-Davis in the semifinals. Culver already has more wins this season (16) than the previous two seasons combined (15); however, they lost to Triton in three sets in their Hoosier North meeting on Sept. 1.

Oregon-Davis is 1-18 on the season.