Volleyball draw: Pioneer-Northfield match would occur in sectional final

Lady Zs get bye, draw LaVille; Valley gets Jimtown; Caston, NM to square off

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Class 1A

If Pioneer were to meet Northfield in Class 1A, Sectional 52, it would occur in the final on Oct. 17, according to the IHSAA draw released Sunday.

Pioneer and Northfield are ranked No. 3 and 4, respectively, in this week’s Class 1A IndianaPrepVolleyball.com ratings. Both are currently undefeated in conference play in their respective conferences.

Pioneer has won 14 consecutive sectional titles and will host the sectional. Northfield is 20-1 overall and 8-0 in the Three Rivers Conference. They can wrap up the TRC title outright with a home win over North Miami (1-24, 0-8) on Thursday.

Pioneer (22-3, 7-0 Hoosier North) drew Southwood in the quarterfinal, and the winner will play Lakeland Christian in the semifinal. In the other half of the draw, Caston drew North Miami in the quarterfinal, and the winner will play Northfield in the semifinal.

The best tradition in the sectional might not belong to either Pioneer or Northfield. Southwood has won 24 sectional titles in its history. The other five teams in the sectional have won 23 sectionals combined.

In the other area Class 1A sectional, which Oregon-Davis will host, LaCrosse drew Triton in a Sectional 50 quarterfinal with the winner to play Argos in the semifinals. In the other half of the bracket, Culver drew Oregon-Davis with the winner to meet West Central.

Culver is 4-19, but all four wins have come against teams in their sectional. Argos is 1-11. Oregon-Davis is 5-13, LaCrosse is 1-18, and West Central is 5-16.

Triton, the defending sectional champion, is 20-10 this year and has two wins over Culver and a win over Argos.

Class 2A

In Class 2A, Rochester, in search of their fifth sectional in the last six years, received a bye and will play LaVille in a Sectional 35 semifinal at Bremen at 11 a.m. Oct. 17. In the other half of the draw, South Central (Union Mills) drew Bremen with the winner to play Westville. South Bend Career Academy, who participated in last year’s sectional, is not in this year’s field.

RHS does not play any sectional opponents during the regular season.

As for Winamac, they drew Boone Grove in a Sectional 34 quarterfinal. Boone Grove is only 5-9, but they are the sectional host and defending sectional champion. The Winamac-Boone Grove winner will play Hebron in the semifinals.

In the other half of the draw, North Newton will play North Judson with the winner to face Rensselaer in the semis. North Judson won the Class 2A state title in 2018.

Class 3A

In search of their first sectional title in school history, Tippecanoe Valley will play Jimtown (6-14) in a Class 3A, Sectional 21 quarterfinal at Valley with the winner to play defending sectional champion NorthWood in the semifinals.

In the other half of the draw, West Noble will play Wawasee with the winner to take on Lakeland in the sectional. Lakeland is 19-5 and has a win over NorthWood during the regular season.