Charlestown Volleyball at Silver Creek

CHS C-team lost 8-25, 13-25 / CHS JV lost 5-25, 13-25 / CHS Varsity lost 6-25, 7-25, 6-25

Coach Nuxoll:  We really didn’t show up to play tonight, and you cannot do that with a team like Silver Creek. Silver Creek has a good team, and I was hoping that we would make them earn a win. We really struggled passing tonight at the JV and the Varsity level. When our passing wasn’t working, we got frustrated and started to hang our heads. We have got to learn that we can make mistakes, but still communicate and play as a team. On a positive note, our Cteam played Silver Creek last week and scored more points against them this week. Brooke Bowling showed hustle while Hannah Vincent passed well in the second set. Tyrah Martin got a block and two service aces to give the JV a tiny spark in the second JV set.

Charlestown Lady Pirate Volleyball hosting Southwestern

CHS JV won 25-22, 25-21 / CHS Varsity lost 10-25, 14-25, 14-25

In the first set against Southwestern, it took us a while to get going, and we allowed their servers to string together several points before we could side-out. We made some mental errors and just let the ball drop between players. When our passing improved, we just weren’t able to put the ball way. In the second and third matches we were about to make small runs, but not enough to gain any momentum.  Emalee Craven led the offense with four kills and Danielle Miles contributed two kills.  Emalee also was a force at the net with 6 blocks.  Shelby Goedeker had five digs to lead the defense.

The Junior Varsity came away with a win tonight.  The team played well together and despite a strong comeback by Southwestern in the first set, our girls continued to fight for the win. Allana Brock and Maddie Nuxoll had consistent serving in the first set to help the team earn points along with good passing by Chrissa Ledbetter.  In the second set we were down 9-15, Maddie Nuxoll served 11 serves in a row and the team rallied behind her with good net play by Bri Harvey and Kiersten James to earn points.

The Lady Pirate Volleyball parents will be selling raffle chances to win the official game ball of each of the 2014 Pirate Football home games this season, including Saturday’s Charlestown game versus Brownstown in Lucas Oil Stadium.  Watch for Lady Pirate Volleyball parents walking the stands and setup at a marked table selling raffle tickets, $1 each or six tickets for $5; and buy your chances at winning a 2014 Pirate Football Game Ball.  Raffle tickets will be sold until mid-fourth quarter before the drawing of the lucky winner is completed and announced.  The game ball will be presented after the game is complete.  The “Win the Game Ball” contest is sponsored by Backyard Staycations of Sellersburg and Floyd Knobs, Indiana.  Check out Backyard Staycations for all your swimming pool, spa, garden furniture, and backyard recreational products.  For more information about Backyard Staycations, visit them on-line at www.backyardstaycations.com.

Charlestown at Henryville:  JV lost 5-25, 6-25 / Varsity lost 13-25, 15-25, 4-25

Coach Nuxoll:  Henryville has a solid volleyball program. They have two strong left side hitters and a left handed middle hitter that gave us trouble. We have a small line up and Henryville’s outside hitter took advantage of that. They hit over our block in the beginning of the match and after switching our line-up with taller players we weren’t closing the blocks and our defense had to cover too much area. Emalee Craven led the team with four kills and three aces. Shelby Goedeker contributed 6 digs. We have another tough match at home tomorrow when we play Madison.

We did not put a lot of points on the board tonight during out JV match. I have asked a lot of these girls to play JV and play several minutes at the Varsity level. This is our third match in a row this week, and the girls understandably looked a little tired. Our passing was actually better tonight, but we could not put a ball away and we had trouble getting to some balls on defense. I know these girls will bounce back with a little rest.

CHS JV lost 18-25, 23-25; CHS Varsity lost 7-25, 26-28, 17-25

The Lady Pirate Volleyball Varsity started out lethargic in the first set, making some errors and couldn’t get together.  Line-up adjustments were made in the second set and the second group played with a lot of enthusiasm and heart.  Charlestown passed better in the second game and that allowed to run an offense; however despite lots of effort, the Lady Pirates lost a close battle 26-28.  The third match Charlestown just ran out of gas losing 17-25; as many of the girls in that second and third match, also played in the Junior Varsity match.  “I was encouraged about our play tonight.  Keeley Couch showed good leadership, and she and Maddie Nuxoll did a nice job of running the offense”, commented Coach Nuxoll.  Emalee Craven contributed 15 kills tonight for a solid performance on the front row.  “That is the most kills from a single player since I started at Charlestown last year”, continued Nuxoll.  “We were able to get her more sets tonight because our passing was better.  Shelby Goedeker, Emalee Craven and Chrissa Ledbetter led our passing efforts.  Sidney Goedeker, Hannah Vincent, Bri Harvey and Morgan Eldridge also made good contributions tonight.  I hope we can carry these improvements into our match against Henryville tomorrow.”

“Overall we played better tonight in both the JV and Varsity matches.  The JV started out slow, but started to gain momentum at the end of the set.  They carried that momentum over into the second set and lost a nail-biter 26-28. We just had small break downs in passing and serving which is improved from yesterday’s match.  I thought overall the play was more consistent. I was also proud of our bench tonight. Some players didn’t get in the match, but showed great team spirit” concluded Coach Nuxoll.

Score line:  CHS vs. Jeff

CHS C-team lost 5-25, 11-25;  CHS JV team lost 18-25, 11-25; CHS Varsity lost 7-25, 20-25, 12-25.

In our C-Team match up we struggled in the first game with our serve receive. We played better in our second match by communicating more and moving our feet better to get to passes. We did better tonight with making our offense and defensive switches.

Overall our JV team had a solid performance. We had a few mental lapses with some basic fundamentals like passing free balls over the net and breaking down in our passing at times, but for a very young team we are preforming well. We are still learning to control our bodies when on the net blocking, but we are doing better with that also. Hannah Vincent had another all around good night for us, and Maddie Nuxoll got to almost every second ball with her hands which gave the team more opportunities to hit.

No team likes to lose and as a coach and former player I don’t like to lose either, but despite the loss I have more positive than negative things to say. This team have very little Varsity and Club volleyball experience, but they are still showing teams that they can compete. This team works well together and is capable of getting some wins this year. Emalee Craven was our leading offensive threat again tonight and led the team with 9 kills. She also contributed three blocks. Danielle Miles, Alex Chester and Shelby Goedeker also contributed 3 kills each. Although we continue to struggle with our serve reception, our defense helped us stay in the game. Shelby Goedeker led the defense with 5 digs. I was also pleased with no serving errors tonight. We will continue to work hard in practice tomorrow and face two tough conference opponents, Brownstown and Clarksville, this Saturday.

C-Team vs. Corydon (0-2) 9-25, 5-25  /  JV vs. Corydon (1-3) 6-25, 25-21, 12-15  /  Varsity vs. Corydon (0-3) 12-25, 19-25, 18-25

Overall, it was a positive night for our first outing. We lost six starting seniors last season, so we knew this would be a rebuilding year for us. We had several girls interested in volleyball this year, so we were able to form a CTeam. These girls are learning more and more each practice, and I look forward to seeing them develop as the year progresses. Tyrah Martin did a good job serving and playing at the net.

I was super proud of our JV girls. Most of the girls on this team are freshman playing in their first high school match. I think the first game they were a little nervous, but settled down to play solid second and third games. Chrissa Ledbetter did a nice job passing and playing defense for us. Maddie Nuxoll ran the floor well as the setter and contributed with her serving. Hannah Vincent was a “spark plug” on the court that gave the team lots of positive energy.

This Varsity group does a good job of working together. Although we lost in three sets, we improved on last year’s performance based on the number of points we scored. We are missing one of our hitters due to an injury, but the team was able to focus and still play hard. We had some break downs in communication at times and we were caught out of position in crucial moments, but I am happy that the girls didn’t just lay down when they made mistakes. Emalee Craven led the team tonight with kills (4), aces (2) and blocks (2). Emalee brings a lot of volleyball playing experience to our team. She will be a force to deal with throughout the year. We will need to work on our passing and setting accuracy to increase our number of kills as a team. Shelby Goedeker and Danielle Miles did a good job passing and playing defense. We hope to improve our performance as we head to Jeff High on Thursday.