Veteran Greencastle squad opens semistate tournament against top-ranked Barr-Reeve

With seven seniors in the rotation, Greencastle is chasing history.

The Tiger Cubs have amassed 30 wins, a Monon Conference championship, a sectional title and the program’s first regional title since 1998.

Greencastle (30-4) takes a 14-match win streak to the Bedford North Lawrence Semistate Saturday morning to face top-ranked Barr-Reeve (30-5). Triton Central (24-8) and Eastern (30-5) will follow. The championship match is set for 7 p.m. Saturday.

GIANT fm (WREB) will air the Greencastle match Saturday morning on 94.3 fm. The pregame show will begin at 9:30 a.m.

If the Tiger Cubs advance, GIANT fm will have that broadcast as well.

“This is a group of girls I’ve known for a long time. There is a core group that have played for a really long time,” said Greencastle head coach Denise Meyer, who led the Tiger Cubs to a sectional title in 2023. “That really helps. We’ve got girls that know each other and know each other’s games very well. It’s great to see them finish their high school career in this way.”

Senior Allie Landry is closing in on 1,000 assists this season and surpassed 2,000 career assists in late September.

For Greencastle to get by a Barr-Reeve program that has won four state titles, Landry will need clean passes to set up big swings for senior Makenzie Creviston (302 kills) and freshman Sophia Gooch (317 kills).

The offense also will need versatility, and Landry has that with senior Keely Amis (164 kills) and Rhoan Amis (158 kills).

Landry leads the Tiger Cubs with 108 service aces.

Senior Meilani York has a team-high 398 digs. Gooch also has collected over 300 digs in her first varsity season.

Greencastle suffered an early loss to Danville (3-1) on Aug. 18 then won 13 straight. Northview is the only other team to defeat the Tiger Cubs in a five-set match this season – 3-2 on Sept. 17.

The final two losses of the regular season came on Sept. 20 to West Lafayette (2-1) and Danville again (2-0).

Meyer’s senior group won 15 matches as freshmen and followed that with 19- and 18-win seasons. An opening round loss to Parke Heritage in the 2024 sectional sparked a newfound drive to finish their careers on a memorable note.

“It was a disappointing finish last season. There were lots of dreams or goals that fell short when we lost in the first round of the sectional and that made them hungry to make sure they got into the gym, worked with our strength trainer, and just worked together,” said Meyer. “There were a number of them and there was always somebody to play with. Volleyball is not a sport that is really easy to practice on your own. When you have eight girls and its June and July and they say they are going to come in (to the gym). They champion for one another.

“They have really been a joy to coach in so many ways. From early experiences of freshman year to now, this is a group that is really passing down the idea when the team succeeds, I succeed. It’s not when I succeed, the team succeeds. I really like the mentality of ‘we before the me.’ They have done that very naturally from the beginning.”

Barr-Reeve (photo) lost to Brownstown Central, 3-2 in the 2024 semistate championship match. The Vikings’ balanced rotation features four seniors, three juniors, a sophomore and a freshman.

Senior Addison Jones hit two milestones this season – 1,000 career digs earlier this month and 1,000 career kills in August. Jones has 306 kills and 332 digs this season.

Junior Hallie Knepp directs the offense with 901 assists. Along with Jones, Knepp features freshman Joslyn Knepp (303 kills), and seniors Lanie Graber (266 kills) and Mariana Van Der Aa (199 kills).

Jones and junior Lora Graber lead the Vikings with 59 aces. Lora Graber also leads her team in digs (356).

Barr-Reeve, champions of the Blue Chip Conference, lost three matches by Aug. 23 – 3-0 to Center Grove, 3-1 to Castle and 3-2 to North Posey.

After winning 12 straight, Evansville North pinned a 3-2 loss on the Vikings on Sept. 11. Their final loss came on Oct. 11 to Indianapolis Cathedral (3-0).