Its been several years, maybe decades since Charlestown earned hardware of any kind in the sport of volleyball.  Saturday morning changed that, as the 2016 Lady Pirates finished another busy week of volleyball by participating in the Bethany Burrier Invitational at Borden High School.  The Lady Pirates defeated host Borden 2-0 (25-19, & 25-10), then conference rival Scottsburg 2-1 (25-21, 16-25,  & 18-16), and finally Shoals 2-0 (25-11, & 25-14) to take the Invitational Championship trophy home.   The three invitational wins improves Charlestown’s season record to 12-9 (5-2 in MSC) and caps a 6-0 week after wins over Eastern, Lanesville and Salem earlier in the week.  “I am extremely proud of our Lady Pirate Volleyball team!  We had a long week with three matches in a row, so I’m happy with the way the girls came out and gave 100% effort despite being a little fatigued.  There were a couple of times in the Borden and Scottsburg match where we found ourselves several points behind, but the girls continued to fight back and make big plays at critical times to get the win.  This team plays with a lot of heart, and I’m proud of our program-from the players on the floor to the support from the bench and stands”, commented Lady Pirate Head Coach Tammy Nuxoll.  Saturday, the Charlestown offense was led by Kaia Reid with 25 kills, while Kiersten James and Amelia McCoy added thirteen kills each.  Maddie Nuxoll logged 62 assists for the Lady Pirates Saturday.  Emalee Craven had a great day serving, finishing with twelve service points in a row against Borden in the second set and seventeen against Shoals along with 4 aces on the day.  Emalee also led the Lady Pirate block category with 6, while Maddie Nuxoll added four.  Chrissa Ledbetter and Kaia Reid led the defense with 18 digs each respectively.  “This upcoming week is critical for us as we play our final two conference matches”, summarized Coach Nuxoll.  Charlestown travels to Austin Monday and Scottsburg on Thursday, both games to be broadcasted live by Pirate Pride Sports on www.CPPSB.com.

The Charlestown Lady Pirate Volleyball team improved to 9-9 on the season; but also 5-2 in MSC play Thursday evening by defeating host Salem 3-2.  Charlestown dropped the first two sets 22-25 and 24-26; but then hit their stride to take the next three sets 25-14, 25-16 & 15-8.  “Tonight was a big conference win for us against a good Salem team.  We started rough in the first set allowing ourselves to get into a 2-10 deficit before we started to play.  Salem did a nice job with their blocking that first set and we were not covering or adjusting.  We started to gain momentum at the end of that set but couldn’t pull out the win.  We have had some injuries and had made some adjustments to our line-up over the last several weeks, but went back to our normal line-up in the second set.  Instead of carrying that momentum into the second set, we again got ourselves down 4-10 before starting to play like we know how.  Finally, in the third set we started to put it together”, summarized Lady Pirate Head Coach Tammy Nuxoll.  The Charlestown offense was led by Senior Emalee Craven (also named the Coyle Chevy, Buick, GMC, and Coyle Nissan Player of the Game) who logged 20 kills, Kaia Reid contributed 15, and Kiersten James added 12 kill in the victory.  Maddie Nuxoll ended the night with 47 assists and 5 kills of her own; while Chrissa Ledbetter stepped up the passing in the later sets of the match and recorded 11 digs.  “I’m very proud of the way the team held it together to come back and win in five.  This was our third match in a row and the team will get some rest tomorrow before heading into the Borden Invite on Saturday”, concluded Coach Nuxoll.  The Charlestown JV team unfortunately lost to Salem 14-25, & 23-25 Thursday evening.

Charlestown, in a three game stretch plus a Saturday Invitational this week, dispatched MSC foe Eastern (Pekin) (25-17, 25-19, & 25-18) Tuesday evening; then sweeped Lanesville (25-14, 25-20, & 25-11) Wednesday evening.  The Lady Pirates (8-9 and 4-2 MSC) will travel to Salem Thursday for an important MSC clash; a game that will be broadcasted live on www.CPPSB.com by Pirate Pride Sports beginning at approximately 7:15 pm.  “I was proud of the focus my team had tonight against Lanesville.  We passed better and did a better job of getting into our defensive positions.  We also made good decisions at the net.  We played aggressive when the ball was on the net, and made good choices if we were out of system”, commented Lady Pirate Head Coach Tammy Nuxoll.  Charlestown got balanced offense Wednesday evening with Kaia Reid and Emalee Craven each having 11 kills and Kiersten James adding 10 kills off of 30 assists from Maddie Nuxoll.  Emalee Craven had a good serving night having 22 service points, 11 in a row in the third set, and four aces.  The Lady Pirate defensive was led by Kaia Reid, who finished with 16 digs, Chrissa Ledbetter added 12.

Concluding Tuesday win over Eastern, Coach Nuxoll summarized the game, “I am always happy with a win, especially a conference win.  We struggled with our passing tonight early in each set, but were able to maintain our composure to get ourselves back in the match and steadily move ahead.  We tried to run a few plays tonight, so I was glad to see the girls gaining some confidence to try something new”.  Kaia Reid led the Charlestown offense Tuesday evening with 12 kills, while Kiersten James had 9 kills off of 27 assists from Maddie Nuxoll.  Maddie finished Tuesday with 21 service points and five aces.  The defense was led by Kaia Reid with 12 digs and Chrissa Ledbetter contributing 11.

The Charlestown Lady Pirate Junior Varsity also defeated both Eastern (25-13 & 25-12) and Lanesville (25-18 & 25-15); improving their record to (7-5 & 3-1 MSC).

The Lady Pirates will now attempt to carry this week’s momentum into Thursday’s conference match at Salem.

Charlestown Lady Pirate Volleyball (5-6 & 3-2 MSC) hosted the North Harrison Lady Cats Thursday evening in the CHS Sports Arena.  North Harrison, the 2015 defending conference volleyball champs, and winners of four of their last six matches; is a team the Lady Pirate Volleyball program hadn’t beaten in over at least six years.  That changed Thursday evening, as Charlestown dropped the first set 18-25; before storming back to win three straight sets and the match 25-23, 25-13 & 25-19.  “We have a great win against a good conference team tonight.  Although we had a slow start in the first set, we were able to battle back and gain momentum as we played.  Our win was a total team effort.  We served well tonight which kept North Harrison from getting the ball to their key middle hitter”, commented Head Coach Tammy Nuxoll.  Amelia McCoy was a key server for the Lady Pirates; establishing a 4-0 lead the third set and an 11-0 lead in the fourth set.   McCoy also ended the night with seven aces.  Kaia Reid let the offense with 12 kills, while Amelia McCoy and Hannah Thibideau each had five.  Hannah Thibideau was also able to get her hands on some blocks that helped slow down the Lady Cat middle attack.  Hannah Vincent led the Charlestown defense with 12 digs.  “Tonight was a good win for us, and I’m proud of all the players for staying focused and supporting each other.  This is a good win for us as we go into a tough Jeff Invite on Saturday”added Coach Nuxoll.  The Lady Pirate Junior Varsity team improved their record Thursday evening, also defeating North Harrison 25-22, & 25-18.

The Charlestown Lady Pirate Volleyball team improved their season record to 4-6 Wednesday evening when hosting and sweeping the Madison Shawe Hilltoppers 25-14, 25-21, and 26-24.  “Tonight was a much needed win for us.  This was the first time we have played Shawe since I have been coaching at Charlestown and we were not sure what to expect.  The girls played steady through some different line-up changes and kept their composure to come back in the third set despite being down late in match”, commented Head Coach Tammy Nuxoll.  The Charlestown offense was led by Kaia Reid with 13 kills followed by Amelia McCoy and Kiersten James with 6 kills each.  Maddie Nuxoll helped the offense with 22 assists.  The defense was led by Amelia McCoy with 11 digs with Chrissa Ledbetter and Maddie Nuxoll a close second with 9 a piece.  Kaia Reid also had five aces while McCoy and Ledbetter had three each.  “It was a good overall team effort.  We will need to take this momentum into our conference match against North Harrison tomorrow night at home”, concluded Nuxoll.  The Lady Pirate Junior Varsity team also recorded the sweep agaisnt Shawe, winning their match 2-0 (25-8, & 25-13).  For more information about Lady Pirate Volleyball, go to www.PiratePride.BLUE/Volleyball.

Lady Pirate Volleyball traveled to Silver Creek Thursday evening for a conference contest.  Charlestown fell to the Dragons 3-0 (15-25, 9-25, 6-25).  “There is a reason that Silver Creek is ranked 7th in the state in 3A. They are a very strong team and they are definitely the strongest team we have faced this season. I was hoping that we would be more competitive against them, but we allowed them to control the tempo of the game and we played tentative which allowed them the freedom to run their quick offense. We have lost some players to injury but are hoping to come back a little healthier next week”, concluded Coach Tammy Nuxoll. Kaia Reid led the team with 9 kills and 6 digs.  The CHS JV team also lost to Silver Creek 6-25, 18-25.

Lady Pirate Volleyball hosted Madison Thursday evening in the CHS Sports Arena, capping a third straight night of heated competition this week for Charlestown.  The Lady Pirates found themselves two sets behind again before gaining some momentum; Charlestown fell to the Lady Cubs 3-1 (15-25, 21-25, 25-19, & 14-25).  “This is the second night in a row that it has taken us a while to get started.  We cannot afford to not be focused when we step out on the court against solid teams like Madison.  We started to gain some momentum in the end of the second set and was able to carry it over in the third set behind some strong serving by Amelia McCoy who helped us get a 6-0 lead.  We were able to hang onto the lead to win the third set, but struggled in the fourth set with some communication and passing”, commented Lady Pirate Head Coach Tammy Nuxoll.  The top Lady Pirate kill leaders tonight were Kaia Reid with 9, Amelia McCoy with 5, and Adia Wells with 3.  Chrissa Ledbetter had 17 defensive digs; while Kaia Reid and Amelia McCoy each contributed 10.  “We had three matches in a row this week and are recovering from some injuries.  We are off this weekend which will give us some time to recuperate before our match against Southwestern next Tuesday”, concluded Coach Nuxoll.  The Charlestown Junior Varsity also fell to Madison, 0-2 (16-25, & 23-25).