LINDEN — North Montgomery’s volleyball team will be in familiar settings with familiar teams as they head into the postseason.
The Chargers will play Sagamore Conference foe Frankfort, who they played during the regular season, on the Hot Dog’s floor at Case Arena, where they played earlier in the season.
A win in the first round of the 3A Section 20 tournament will send them against another familiar opponent in Crawfordsville in the semis.
North finished the regular season at 6-14, but were 3-4 down the stretch. They finished conference play at 1-6. Frankfort finished 11-19.
They did lose to the Hot Dogs in the regular season, and look to avenge that loss in the sectional.
“The key to winning Thursday’s game is to play as a team and keep our energy high,” Chargers coach Whitney Hutson said. “Our mental toughness and our teamwork has improved throughout this season.”
That improvement has worked through the squad and started from the seniors down.
Ashlynn Anderson, one of those six, leads the team in kills with 112. The seniors accounted for 226 of the team’s 293 total kills. Anderson’s 104 digs was also team-best.
Senior middle-hitter Carlie DeSmet led the team with 21 blocks, and fellow senior Maddie Welch had 211 assists.
That senior team also got a first.
“Beating South for the first time since 2017 was the highlight of the season,” Hutson said.
While the seniors have led, and will need to lead, for the team to get past Frankfort and advance in the tournament, the rest of the team, the next group in the program, have also stepped up.
“All of our players have done a great job of adapting to position changes throughout the season,” Hutson said, noting the early losses and then a 6-6 finish, looking for those wins to build momentum.
The other match tonight at Frankfort has a powerhouse duel featuring Benton Central and West Lafayette .
