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"Perfect Match" helps Western Boone to first volleyball crown
MUNCIE - The perfect match at absolutely the perfect time.
That’s how Western Boone coach Laura Bragg described her team’s performance in a surprising rout of perennial state-contender Brownstown Central in the Class 2A championship match at Ball State University’s Worthen Arena.
The fifth-ranked Stars more than lived up to their nickname in drubbing the No. 1-ranked Braves with set scores of 25-14, 25-13, 25-18.
“That’s 100 percent accurate … we couldn’t have played any better,” Bragg enthused after the team claimed the program’s first-ever state title trophy. “We had to out-block and out-serve them and we did it.”
It was clear from the initial kill of the match – a swing by senior outside hitter Raegan Durbin -- that WeBo was on a mission. Durbin’s leap on the left side of the net set up her shot that hit open floor as fast as a Nolan Ryan fastball.
“We had a whole week to sit on this match,” the Middle Tennessee-recruit said of the lead-up. “For sure, you can come out nervous and rusty, but we were prepared and determined.
“We had no doubt in our mind we were not losing this one.”
Spurred on by a defeat in the 2A state final in 2021 (a five-set loss to Andrean), Durbin’s first kill sparked the Stars (26-5) to that first-set victory in only 22 minutes.
Durbin in fact had nine kills and hit .600 in the first set.
“Brownstown was just here last year,” Bragg pointed out, “and for us to take that first set like that shows how amazing this team is.”
Brownstown Central (33-4) took a 3-1 in set two, but WeBo quickly gathered itself behind its superb hitting to claim set two in just 23 minutes.
All told, over the first two sets the Stars hit a fabulous .333 as a team.
Set three proved to be the most competitive of the match as the Braves, hung tough to force an 11-11 deadlock. However, WeBo’s superior net play once again came to the fore – this time in the form of its defense at the net. Seven of the Stars’ 13 blocks in the match came in set three.
At match point, Wake Forest-recruit Sadie Poeck’s kill attempt bounced off a pair of BC players before finding the floor to end the match.
Durbin ended up with 2A championship record 24 kills – just two fewer than the entire BC team and hit .309. Poeck added 10 kills. Emmerson Gott led the blocking with five and Jamie Ransom dished out 36 assists.
For Brownstown Central and coach Jennifer Shade it was another disappointing day. Shade has guided the Braves to 10 state finals and have left with the runner-up trophy nine times.
“I’m not frustrated, I’m just sad for the seniors,” said Shade, who entered the state’s volleyball Hall of Fame the night before the match. “We do well for being a small community that’s putting together players to come up here and compete with big-time players.
“We’ve seen this kind of competition all season, but today wasn’t our day.”
Class 2A State Championship Records
Kills: 24 by Raegan Durbin, Western Boone
Brownstown's Kinzee Dean earns Mental Attitude Award
Following the match, Kinzee Dean of Brownstown Central was announced as the recipient of the Mental Attitude Award by the IHSAA Executive Committee.
Kinzee ranks in the top ten percent of her class and serves as the National Honors Society president and leader/organizer of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at her school
Kinzee is an exceptional multi-sport athlete, participating in volleyball, basketball, and softball during her high school career. She has earned all-county honors as a leading server and is a four-time volleyball sectional champion in addition to earning 11 varsity letters over her high school career.
She is the daughter of Trapper and Danielle Dean of Brownstown, IN and plans to pursue studies in Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology at Hanover College while continuing her volleyball playing career.
The Mental Attitude Award is annually presented to a senior nominated by her principal and coach, and has demonstrated excellence in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership, and athletic ability during her four years of high school.
Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, a corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Brownstown Central High School’s general scholarship fund in the name of Kinzee Dean.
