Twice as nice: Castle and Tecumseh clinch IHSAA volleyball semistate titles

JASPER, Ind. — When the Castle volleyball team was done taking its team pictures, Tecumseh's joined in on the action.

Both the Knights and the Braves are two of the top programs in Southwestern Indiana. They've won a combined 66 matches this season, are ranked inside the top-five of their respective classes and have experienced the bright lights of Ball State University's Worthen Arena.

Now, the two teams will be going up to Muncie at the same time.

No. 1 Tecumseh clinched back-to-back state championship appearances following its 3-0 sweep of Greenwood Christian (25-11, 25-19, 25-15) in the Class A semistate on Saturday afternoon at Jasper. Later on in the day, Class 4A No. 5 Castle bested No. 3 Roncalli 3-1 (26-24, 25-15, 23-25, 25-14).

Prior to the matches, there had never been two volleyball teams from Warrick County to advance to the state championship at the same time. But Castle and Tecumseh made the impossible happen.

"It's huge," Braves coach Katie Johnson said. "I just kept thinking before we came here, 'There's no way it's going to happen again. It was too good last year.' But it did, so it's awesome."

"On one hand, we were so excited for Tecumseh," Knights coach Daniel Watson added. "But then we also figured out that we had to play a match. We were so pumped up for them, but we had to settle back down, lock in and do the things we need to do to be successful."

Watson and his team went to a camp at Ball State earlier this summer. He told his players at that camp he wanted the season to start and end in Muncie.

Castle (34-3) backed up his word and then some.

IHSAA volleyball: Castle, Tecumseh win regionals while Memorial, North Posey fall in openers

Senior and Eastern Illinois commit Katie Kopshever registered a team-high 19 kills against Roncalli (30-4); she's tallied over 15 kills in every match so far this postseason. Watson complimented the playoff run she's on and called it one of the best in program history.

"That kid is locked in," he said. "Eastern Illinois is getting a good one."

But it's not just Kopshever who makes clutch plays for the Knights. Juniors Maya Joska and Addisen Gallentine can block shots at the net. Seniors Kierstin Niehaus and Megan Harpenau are consistent as the libero and setter, respectively. Sophomore Emma Bruggenschmidt also has a knack for clutch plays.

"It's definitely a team sport," Bruggenschmidt said. "We all wouldn't be here without each other. It takes all of us."

Tecumseh, meanwhile, faced a Greenwood Christian team that was having one of its best postseason runs in program history. The Cougars (24-14) had key victories against defending regional champion Indianapolis Lutheran and Oldenburg to head to their first-ever semistate match.

Still, the Braves (32-4) continued to take care of business.

Many players came up with key aces all throughout the match with Greenwood Christian, like Jenna Donohoo, Payge Johnson, Emily Hall and KSue Marx. Tecumseh already racked up three aces by the end of the first set, and the match point that sent the team back to Muncie was an ace by the junior Marx.

"She had a little trouble serving earlier in the game, so I knew her adrenaline was pumping," Johnson said. "And I was just like, 'Just slow down. Just put it in.' And so, it was in, and it was good."

The Braves are having another special season this year, and they certainly didn't want it to end in Jasper. So they continued to work on the little things at practice, like improving their serving.

"We do serve receiving for about a half-hour at practice," Donohoo said. "And we serve as hard as we can every day. So I think that's what helps us get prepared for the game."

Both Castle and Tecumseh have tall tasks ahead in their respective state championships. The Knights will face No. 1 Hamilton Southeastern (32-0) next Saturday at 6 p.m. CDT while the Braves are playing No. 4 Southwood (31-4) in the first match of the day at 10 a.m. CDT.

But the teams are ready to embrace their opportunities. They have the chance to win the first state title for Southwestern Indiana since Barr-Reeve did it in 2020. No team from Warrick County had ever achieved this feat, although the Braves came close to victory against Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian the previous season.

"We know it's going to be a great game (with HSE)," Kopshever said. "We're super excited to play another great team, and we're grateful for the opportunity."

Marx added: "At the beginning of the season, we said that we want to go far this year. And we're going far."

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 and Tecumseh clinch semistate titles