Published: October 31, 2009 11:40 pm      

CLASS 3A REGIONAL: Dragons roll past Sullivan in championship

Creek headed to finals for first time

JASPER — When he arrived at Silver Creek High School three seasons ago as the head volleyball coach, Jeff Zimmerman promised his sophomores, who are now seniors, that he would guide them to the IHSAA State Finals before they graduated.

On Saturday, the former New Albany assistant coach came through for his four seniors.

For the first time in school history, the Dragons captured a regional crown as they defeated Sullivan in the Class 3A Jasper Regional final, 25-18, 25-20, 25-23. Silver Creek (27-11) will face second-ranked Indianapolis Brebeuf (32-1) in the semifinals of the state finals at about 10:30 a.m. next Saturday at Muncie Central High School. The winner will advance to the state championship at 6 p.m. at Ball State University’s Worthen Arena.

“I knew he had it in him. He has the experience and he knows exactly what he’s doing,” Dragon senior Brittany Rayborn said. “He promised before we graduated that he would take us here, and he did exactly what he said he would.”

During his seven years as a Bulldog assistant, Zimmerman helped New Albany reach the 4A state finals twice. When Zimmerman began practice at Creek for the 2007 season, Dragon senior LeAnn Osterhoudt knew her team had the right coach.

“In the first couple of practices, we were like, ‘Wow! He’s going to be an awesome coach. He’s going to take Silver Creek places,’” the Creek libero said. “He’s a fantastic coach. He always knows what to say.”

Guiding the Dragons to the state finals in three seasons was beyond Zimmerman’s imagination. But he thought the Silver Creek players and their families were committed in giving an inspired effort to reach the state’s ultimate level.

“I knew that I had some committed parents and some committed players,” said Zimmerman, who credited his assistant coaches Kela Megraw and Todd Zimmerman for a great scouting report of Sullivan. “Did I think I would be at state in three years? I didn’t know. They worked their tails off.”

The Dragons were ready to capture the regional crown right from the outset. They built a 17-11 lead midway through the first set and grew the advantage to seven at 23-16.

In the second set with the score tied at eight, Silver Creek reeled off six straight points to go up 14-8. The Arrows (26-12) came back with a 9-3 spurt to deadlock the set at 17. But the Dragons closed out the set by scoring eight of the last 11 points.

Sullivan’s best chance to claim a set was the third. The Arrows led 23-20 late in the set, but could not hold on. Silver Creek scored the final five points of the match, with three of those points coming on service aces by junior Kristyn Maymon.

Once Maymon’s final ace hit the floor, the entire Silver Creek bench rushed the court, while the Dragon fans had a raucous celebration of their own.

“It feels amazing. It’s the best feeling in the world,” Osterhoudt said. “I’m proud of everyone. Everybody played their hearts out.”

Maymon and Rayborn each spiked 10 kills, and Rayborn delivered three aces. Silver Creek freshman Haley Garr made nine kills, and Dragon setter Danielle Ramser dished out 33 assists. Creek’s Malen Warren made six digs, and Osterhoudt added five.

Maymon appeared to be back to her old self after twisting her ankle last Wednesday in practice. After getting limited playing time in Saturday’s semifinal against Jasper, mainly in the back row, Maymon returned to the front row in fine form in the final and showed no discomfort executing her jump-serve.

“Mentally for the team, just having her out there gave everybody a boost,” Zimmerman said. “She played phenomenal – like she never even hurt her ankle.”

Ever since the Dragons lost to Owen Valley in the Jasper Regional semis last season, they have been on a mission to return to regional and claim the title. After Saturday’s final, Rayborn felt a great sense of accomplishment.

“Last year, we didn’t show up to play. I knew we were all real nervous coming here because last year on the court we were horrible,” Rayborn said. “But this year everyone stepped up. It was really nice to play as good as we did on this court compared to last year.”

Zimmerman hopes his players will savor every moment of the state finals experience next weekend.

“It’s a big stage,” Zimmerman said. “They deserve to be there.”



SEMIFINAL

SILVER CREEK-JASPER

The Dragons pulled out to quick leads in the first two sets and earned a 25-21, 25-23, 25-21 victory over the host Wildcats in the regional opener.

Silver Creek led 7-0 in the opening set and 8-3 in the next set. In the second, the Wildcats did not go away quietly, tying the set three times. But with the score deadlocked at 22, a Ramser kill and a Rayborn block enabled the Dragons to build a 24-22 advantage.

After Jasper’s Kyla Stenftenagel forced a sideout, Silver Creek sophomore Hannah Smith returned the favor with her own sideout and collected set point.

“That was huge,” Zimmerman said about the early leads. “It gave us some confidence and some momentum.”

Jasper (21-14) picked up its first lead of the match at 3-2 in the third set thanks to an ace by Megan Sternberg. The Wildcats’ biggest lead was 13-10, but the Dragons tied the score at 15 and proceeded to build a five-point advantage. The closest Jasper got to Creek after that was two points.

Garr paced the Dragons’ attack with 14 kills, while Rayborn added 10. Garr also had five aces and senior Mollie Hamilton chipped in three. Osterhoudt made 14 digs.