Published: September 04, 2007 11:28 pm         

No. 8-ranked Shakamak volleyball stays undefeated

Lakers top Golden Arrows in four games

SULLIVAN — Overcoming an 18-kill performance by Sullivan senior Erika Huff, Class A No. 8-ranked Shakamak rallied to post a 21-25, 25-20, 28-26, 25-22 volleyball victory Tuesday evening in the Sullivan High School sauna.

Oops, make that the Sullivan High School gym.

The Lakers’ triumph enabled them to remain undefeated at 10-0.

Shakamak got a school-record 32 digs from senior Annie Strahla, who eclipsed Megan Netherlain’s previous mark by one, so not all of Huff’s missiles were denting the floor.

“They were hitting [almost] everything back that we were giving them,” Sullivan coach Jennifer Murdock noted. “They kept us in a lot of long volleys.”

“Huff is a good, all-around player,” Shakamak coach Jeri Morin said. “But we were able to get our hands on a lot of them.”

In the first game, Sullivan jumped ahead 4-0 and 9-3. But the visitors whittled away at their deficit, gradually pulling within 21-19 after back-to-back kills by Chelsea Hudson and Kelsey Farris. The Arrows eventually closed the deal on Game 1 with a kill by Huff.

“We won it,” Murdock said of Game 1. “But we knew we weren’t quite where we needed to be. We weren’t mentally focused.”

Shakamak seized the early advantage in the second game, leading 10-6, 13-8 and 17-10. Then it was the Arrows’ turn to pull within 21-19. But the Lakers tallied four of the next five points to even the match at one game apiece.

The third game was probably the most entertaining of the night. As fans of both teams worked up a sweat cheering wildly, Shakamak turned a 10-6 deficit into a 12-10 advantage after a net serve by Sullivan and five straight service points by Hudson.

The Lakers maintained slim leads, at one point 17-15, until Sullivan rattled off five unanswered points — four on serves from Courtney Majors — to catapult on top 20-17.

Once again, the score reached 21-19, this time in favor of Sullivan. But this time, the team leading by that score did not win the game. Shakamak stormed ahead 24-21, getting its 24th point on an ace served by Jillian Smith.

But the home squad responded with a 4-0 run — capped off by an ace from Lauren Adams — to seemingly take control, 25-24.

Game 3 control eventually ended up in the hands of Shakamak, which benefited from two kills by Hudson in the final four plays.

In the fourth game, Amanda Gilbert served six consecutive points to help give the Lakers a 19-10 cushion. But no lead was safe on this hot night, unless it was the final score, as Sullivan sliced the difference to two at 23-21 (not 21-19 for a change). Huff registered five kills during the Arrows’ outburst.

Jessica Gilbert, Shakamak’s tallest player at 5 feet, 11 inches, finished the match with a dink kill that followed a long volley.

“It was an amazing win,” said Jessica Gilbert, who felt bad before the match because the public-address announcer inadvertently forgot to introduce her with the other Shakamak starters. “We played ’em real hard last year and lost in five games.”

“That was a good, hard-fought match,” Morin added. “We had to fight for every point we got. To beat a team like Sullivan is an accomplishment.”



Shakamak 21 25 28 25

Sullivan 25 20 26 22

Highlights — For Shakamak, Annie Strahla posted a school-record 32 digs; Amanda Gilbert contributed 31 assists and 15 digs; Kelsey Farris pounded 13 kills; Chelsea Hudson added 10 kills and 3 blocks; and Jessica Gilbert had 7 kills and 2 blocks.

For Sullivan, Erika Huff racked up 18 kills and 13 digs; Alyssa Chagnon delivered 9 kills, 20 assists, 14 digs, 12 service points and 4 aces; Courtney Majors added 19 digs; and Lauren Adams had 10 digs, 7 assists, 9 points and a pair of aces.

JV — Sullivan won 25-22, 25-10.

Next matches — Shakamak (10-0) will be at home Thursday to face North Knox. Sullivan (7-3) will have two home Western Indiana Conference matches Saturday against Northview and Brown County.