The Charlestown Lady Pirate Volleyball team will have three current players representing Pirate Nation at Saturday’s 4th Annual Indiana Elite North vs. South Volleyball Invitational.  Lady Pirates Molly Braunecker, Kiersten James and Chrissa Ledbetter will travel to Lebanon High School, just north of Indianapolis, to participate in the North vs. South event.  The event will feature high school volleyball players from across the state of Indiana and will allow them to showcase their talents in front of college coaches.   Pirate Nation wishes these ladies lots of luck as they represent Charlestown High School!  (photo order l. to r. James, Braunecker, & Ledbetter)

The Charlestown Lady Pirate Volleyball team (18-11) got the bye and will face the winner of match #1 (Brownstown v. Providence) in the semi-final round of Sectional #30 in the 45th Annual Volleyball State Tournament.  Charlestown’s semi-final match is scheduled for Saturday, October 22nd, beginning at 11:00 am.  Sectional #30 is being hosted at Brownstown High School October 18th-22nd.  The remainder of the Sectional #30 Volleyball pairings include Silver Creek v. Corydon Central, and Salem v. Scottsburg in the lower half of the bracket.

Charlestown Lady Pirate Volleyball made the short trip to New Washington Saturday to compete in the annual Mustang Invitational to close out their regular season.  The Lady Pirates sweep all three of their matches to win the tournament outright and improve their regular season record to 18-11.  Charlestown opened the tournament with a 25-14 and 25-10 sweep of Switzerland County; before a rematch of MSC foe Clarksville an hour later.  The Lady Pirates swept the Lady Generals again (as did in August’s regular season clash) to the tune of 25-10, 25-19.  The finale versus host New Washington was just as solid, shutting the Lady Mustangs out 25-16 and 25-13 to win the Invitational; the second tournament title of the season (Borden in September).  “I’m super proud of the way my team played today!  We played consistent without any major let downs, and I could not have asked for a better way to end the regular season.  Due to the fact that this was a JV and Varsity tournament we did not have subs if someone was not playing well, but each and every player stepped up to get the job done.  Our first goal of the day was to get one win to secure a winning record for the season.  Once that was under our belt, the next goal was to win the tournament.  This group of girls has a done good job of setting goals and reaching them this season”, summarized Head Coach Tammy Nuxoll.  The Lady Pirate offense was led by Emalee Craven’s 21 kills, Kaia Reid’s 19 kills, while Kiersten James added fourteen kills respectively.  Maddie Nuxoll had 50 assists on the day, and Alex Chester did a nice job stepping in to set when Maddie made digs on the back row.  The Lady Pirate defense was led by Chrissa Ledbetter, who finished the day with 20 digs; while Amelia McCoy added 18 digs.  Overall, Charlestown served very well as a team but Chrissa Ledbetter and Hannah Vincent turned up the heat with 7 aces each on the day.  “I was also very happy with our serve reception.  Ending the regular season with an 18-11 record, is a great accomplishment for our program.  The girls will get a few days off before we begin preparing for the Sectional tournament”, concluded Coach Nuxoll.  The shortly handed Charlestown JV team lost to Switzerland Co. 21-25, 21-25, Clarksville 17-25, 24-25; and New Washington 17-25, and 17-25.  The Lady Pirates will learn their sectional draw Monday morning; as the Class 3A Sectional #30 will be hosted by Brownstown October 18th through the 22nd.

Charlestown Lady Pirate Volleyball improved to 15-11 Thursday night and honored their three Seniors; Alex Chester, Emalee Craven, and Amelia McCoy while sweeping visiting South Central.  Charlestown topped the Lady Rebels 25-19, 25-19, and 25-13.

“I’m super proud of my team tonight, especially my seniors-Alex Chester, Emalee Craven and Amelia McCoy. They have been good leaders this year, and I’m glad we could get the win for their last home match.  I’ve got a great group of girls and it’s hard to believe our season is coming to an end”, commented Lady Pirate Head Coach Tammy Nuxoll.  The first two sets of the evening saw Charlestown playing pretty even with the Rebels until about 16 or 17 points; before the Lady Pirates decided to make a push to finish the match.  The third set Charlestown finally picked up the intensity early on and kept the Rebels to only 13 points.  Kaia Reid had a big night offensively with 21 kills and three service aces.  Emalee Craven was second with 8 kills and three aces.  Maddie Nuxoll did a nice job of using her hands to distribute 34 assists and also had two aces.  Defensively, the team was led by Chrissa Ledbetter and Kaia Reid who each had 12 digs.  Chrissa also did a nice job in serve reception.  The team will get a much deserved rest before we go into our last tournament at New Washington on Saturday October 8th, before Sectionals.  The Lady Pirate Junior also improved their season record, sweeping the Rebels 25-16 and 25-16.

The Charlestown Lady Pirate Volleyball team traveled to Borden Tuesday evening, dropping to 14-11 after losing to the Lady Braves 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, and 25-20).  “We had a rough night tonight….. I did not see the same team that I saw against Rock Creek on Monday night.  We had leads in the first two sets and did not fight to keep it.  We allowed Borden to dictate the tempo and did not capitalize when given opportunities.  We were sluggish on defense and struggled tonight with our passing.  Despite the set back, I know these girls will come back to work hard in practice tomorrow and will be prepared for South Central on Thursday”, commented Lady Pirate Head Coach Tammy Nuxoll.  Charlestown was led by Kaia Reid who finished with 10 kills, 6 aces and 13 digs.  The Lady Pirate Junior Varsity team improved to 8-9 with a 2-1 win against Borden (23-25, 25-23, and 15-11).

Charlestown Lady Pirate Volleyball improved to 14-10 on the season, while defeating Rock Creek (13-7) for the second straight year Monday evening on the road.  Charlestown won the first set 26-24, but allowed the host Lady Lions to take sets two and three 16-25,  and 16-25 respectively.  Charlestown got back on track taking the third 25-19, then outlasted Rock Creek 16-14 in the tie-breaking set.  The Lady Pirates have won eight of their last nine matches.  “Tonight was a very hard fought match between two competitive teams”, stated Charlestown Head Coach Tammy Nuxoll.  “We started off slow in the first set and found ourselves behind 0-5.  We were able to get back in the game, but had our backs against the wall down 20-24.  Emalee Craven went back to serve and the team rallied to earn 6 service points and win the set 26-24”, added Coach Nuxoll.  The second and third sets the Lady Pirates struggled with passing and putting balls to the floor against the good defense Rock Creek was playing.  “We adjusted the line-up the final two sets to match up better with them offensively, and the team picked up the tempo and stayed focused.  I was proud of the way they pulled through in tight situations in the final set”, said Coach Nuxoll.  The Lady Pirate offense was led Monday evening by Emalee Craven, who recorded 15 kills and Kaia Reid who added 11 kills off of 37 assists from Maddie Nuxoll.  Kiersten James led in blocks with five total, and Chrissa Ledbetter did a nice job passing and led the defense with 27 digs.  “I want us to play with the same focus and determination tomorrow night against Borden; but would like to see more consistency in all aspects of our game”, concluded Coach Nuxoll.  The Charlestown Junior Varsity lost 2-0 to Rock Creek 18-25, & 20-25.

Charlestown Lady Pirate Volleyball traveled to Scottsburg to close out Mid-Southern Conference play.  Varsity fell 3-0 (18-25, 17-25, and 21-25); ending their recent seven game win streak.  “I was hoping we could pull out a win in our last conference match, but Scottsburg was definitely the better team tonight.  Scottsburg covered the floor well and made it very difficult for us to put a ball down.  We would start to gain some momentum in the middle of the match, but it was never quite enough”, commented Coach Nuxoll.  The offense was led by Kaia Reid with 14 kills off of 19 assists from Maddie Nuxoll.  Emalee Craven had 7 kills and two aces.  Chrissa Ledbetter was our leader in passing and named the Coyle Chevy, Buick, GMC and Coyle Nissan Player of the Game by CPPSB.  Maddie Nuxoll finished the game with 11 digs for the Charlestown defense.  “Despite the loss, I am very pleased with our overall conference play.  We should come in at least fourth place which is a great improvement”, concluded Coach Nuxoll.  Charlestown recorded one conference win last year and none the year prior.  The Lady Pirates will travel to Rock Creek Monday for a 6 pm match.