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The third time was the charm for Carmel. After three straight trips to the state championship match and five visits over the years, the Greyhounds (32-7) finally won it all.

Following its four-set win, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-18 over top-ranked Indianapolis Cathedral (32-5), the No. 5 Greyhounds celebrated their first state championship in the sport on Saturday at Ball State’s Worthen Arena.

The two teams had split a pair of meetings during the regular season with Carmel winning 2-0 on Aug. 30 and Cathedral taking a 3-2 road victory on Sept. 30.

Carmel’s Carly Skjodt was the big hitter in the match leading all with 22 kills, followed by Carly Cason with nine. Morgan Seaman led the Greyhounds with 40 assists and Hannah Costlow tallied six aces. Rich Coleman coached the Carmel winners.

Four Irish players totaled double figures in kills with Nia Parker-Robinson leading the way with 14. She was followed by Tarah Wylie with 11 and Anna Jensen and Megan Sloan with 10 each.

The loss snapped Cathedral’s 20-match winning streak and it was the first time this season the Irish had lost back-to-back sets. Jean Kesterson was the Cathedral coach who has guided the Irish to six state championships over the years.

Mckenzie Kiesle named Mental Attitude Award Winner 
At the conclusion of the state finals, the IHSAA Executive Committee named Mckenzie Kiesle of Carmel High School as the winner of the Class 4A Mental Attitude Award.

After helping her team to three consecutive state finals appearances, Kiesle was awarded Academic All Conference and honorable mention Academic All-State honors. As a Carmel Scholar Athlete, Mckenzie is a two-time CLASS Award recipient for individual achievement in the classroom.

Mckenzie is the daughter of Daniel and Sherri Kiesle of Carmel, IN. Mckenzie will attend the University of Rhode Island on a volleyball scholarship next fall where she will major in Nursing.

Each year the IHSAA Executive Committee selects a senior player who was nominated by her principal and coach and was determined to have best demonstrated mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability. The Committee presented $1,000 to Carmel High School's general scholarship fund in the name of Mckenzie Kiesle.