Castle volleyball wins 41st sectional title behind a new lineup, balanced offense
JASPER, Ind. — There were a few areas Daniel Watson hoped to see his team improve upon this season.
He wanted the Castle Knights to be more balanced on offense and play sharper on defense. Senior Katie Kopshever had 454 kills the previous season, but no other player had reached the 200 mark. And although the Knights were still winning matches, some of those victories did not come easy.
It's safe to say Castle improved in both of those areas this year. Kopshever continues to lead while getting more teammates involved offensively. The defense has also swept opponents in 20 of its last 21 matches, including the Class 4A Sectional 16 championship against North on Saturday evening at Jasper.
The Knights are sectional champions for a state-record 41st time following its 3-0 sweep of the Huskies (25-13, 25-16, 25-14). As one of the top programs in Southwestern Indiana, they've won more than 30 matches for the third consecutive season. And they took down the Huskies with a completely different lineup.
Junior Maya Joska popped her shoulder out earlier in the day against Harrison and was unable to go for the North match. While Watson advised she may return this postseason, he commended what his team did to win the title.
"These kids continue to battle and just connected with each other regardless of this major lineup change," Watson said. "We did something tonight that we hadn't done the entire season, and we still had the same results. I think it just speaks to the quality of kids that we have."
IHSAA volleyball: Check out the sectional schedule, scores for SW Indiana
No. 5 Castle (31-3) was boosted by another strong outing from Kopshever, an Eastern Illinois commit. One of the best attackers in the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference, she seemingly was everywhere against North (22-12) with key digs while knocking down a team-high 22 kills.
"I knew my team needed me, so I tried to step up and play as clean as possible," Kopshever said. "One thing we talk about is when we're not in good situations, we try to trade the ball in certain areas, and we really focused on that tonight."
Sophomore Emma Bruggenschmidt added 11 kills while Ella Wood and Addisen Gallentine combined for 15. Plus, senior Megan Harpenau continued setting up her teammates for success.
"It's awesome to see a balanced offense," Watson said. "When it's just Katie (or Bruggenschmidt) having to shoulder the load, it becomes too one-dimensional. (But) just having the opportunity to be more balanced makes us such a tougher out in this postseason."
"I would say we're playing probably our best volleyball so far," Bruggenschmidt added. "Our love for each other has really gotten us there. Our team chemistry is just amazing throughout the whole (season)."
Castle will play Franklin (23-8) in the regional semifinal next Saturday at Bloomington North.
After falling in the regional final last year, Watson believes his team can put together a run this time as long as they're not beating themselves. The Knights aim to continue balancing the offensive attack that has worked all season.
"We just want to play clean, make good choices, and hopefully good things will happen for us," Watson said.
Other Evansville-area sectionals
In Class 3A, Barr-Reeve and No. 7 Memorial are sectional champions once again after 3-0 victories against Heritage Hills (25-16, 25-17, 25-15) and Mater Dei (25-21, 25-12, 25-20), respectively. The Vikings won their seventh consecutive sectional title while the Tigers three-peated for the second time in program history.
In the Class 2A final at Forest Park, North Posey also completed a three-peat following its 3-0 victory against Perry Central (25-9, 25-13, 25-12). It's the first time the Vikings accomplished this feat in program history.
In the Class A final at Northeast Dubois, top-ranked and defending state runner-up Tecumseh is going back to the regional after defeating Wood Memorial 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-17). The Braves have not lost a match since getting swept by Castle on Sept. 27.
Courier & Press sports reporter Treasure Washington can be reached via her email, treasure.washington@courierpress.com, and on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Twashington490.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: IHSAA volleyball: Castle sweeps North for 41st sectional title
