Indiana Preps | The Net Effect — Volleyball Team of the Week
Hamilton Southeastern did more than add two wins Saturday.
The Royals made one of the clearest statements of the week.
HSE went 2-0 at the North-South Showcase, beating Franklin Community 3-1 before sweeping No. 5 Center Grove in straight sets. The second result is what separated the Royals from the rest of the Team of the Week field.
Center Grove entered the match 26-3 and riding an 11-match winning streak. The Trojans had not been swept since September 1. HSE changed that — winning 25-21, 25-21, 25-23 to improve to 24-3 and extend their own winning streak to six matches at the time.
What made the result more impressive was how well Center Grove’s best player performed. Sophomore Gabby Gilliard finished with 21 kills and hit .450, giving the Trojans high-level production at the pin. Center Grove still never won a set.
HSE answered with balance and relentless pressure from the service line. Mia Zabel finished with 11 kills while hitting .579, and the Royals generated 14 aces in the match. That service pressure consistently kept Center Grove from settling into clean offense and helped HSE control stretches of all three sets.
The third set was the tightest. The result stayed the same. HSE closed it 25-23 — and that mattered because Center Grove had been finding ways to extend matches and stack wins for more than a month. The Royals did not let that happen.
That is the Team of the Week case. Not just one strong result. A full day of work capped by a sweep of one of the best teams in Indiana.
Hamilton Southeastern has spent most of this season near the top of the state rankings. Saturday gave the Royals another result that supports it.
For beating Franklin Community and then handing Center Grove its first straight-set loss in more than a month, Indiana Preps names Hamilton Southeastern its Volleyball Team of the Week, powered by Identity Kept Services.
Indiana Preps Volleyball Team of the Week is powered by Identity Kept Services.
