> SOUTHERN INDIANA — Providence finished fourth in Satuday’s Pioneer Early Bird Tournament.

The Pioneers went 2-2 on the day and now stand at 7-6 on the season.

Providence went 2-1 in pool play with wins over Castle — 25-12, 25-15 — and Jasper — 20-25, 25-15, 25-22 — and a 23-25, 25-15, 25-17 loss to Cathedral.

In the third-place game, Providence fell to Columbus East, 25-23, 25-20. Roncalli won the championship game over Cathedral.

“The Early Bird has such a competitive field, that coming out 2-2 is, in my opinion a great success for our team,” Providence coach Terri Purichia said. “We played very well today, especially defensively, and put ourselves into the position to win each match.”

Ashley Ricks led the Pioneers with 54 kills, 18 blocks and 10 aces on the day. Kristin Simms had 15 kills and four blocks. Mary Beth Mattingly finished the day with 13 kills and six blocks, and Lindsay Cahalan had nine kills and six digs.

“Ashley played very well and we got great contributions at the net from Kristin and Mary Beth,” Purichia said.

Kattie Kochert led the Pioneers with 87 digs. Kylie Flanagan added 32, and Bryana Rake had 20.

“I thought our backcourt players, Kattie, Kylie and Bryana played exceptionally well today,” Purichia said. “Their serve receive was the best it has been, and our offense had options.”

Abby Spitznagel had a team-high 115 assists, and also had 15 digs.

“Abby, our freshman setter, is really adjusting well to running the offense,” Purichia said. “Her decisions are getting better and better, and with a little more work on the timing of different sets, our offense is going to be just fine.”



CROSS COUNTRY

• Dragon boys third at Martinsville: Silver Creek placed third in Saturday’s 15-team Martinsville Artesian Invitational.

The Dragons had four runners in the top 20, and four of Silver Creek’s top five runners ran person-best times.

Isaac Haas was Creek’s top finisher in eighth in a time of 17:13. Jason Fruits was 10th in 17:22, Drew Roberts placed 11th in 17:26, and Evan Strom finished 20th in 17:40.

“I was impressed by how we ran as a team and how we have improved in that respect since our first meet,” Dragon coach Darrell Kingery said.

• Creek girls run personal bests: Both of Silver Creek’s girls’ runners — Rachel Clemons and Brittany Sharp — ran personal-best times in Saturday’s Artesian Invitational.

Clemons finished 26th in 22:02, and Sharp finished the course in 23:02, despite suffering from bronchitis.

I'm looking forward to everyone getting healthy and a couple of injuries to heal,” Kingery said of both the boys’ and the girls’ team. “If that happens we will be pretty competitive.”



BOYS’ TENNIS

• Jeff sweeps double dual: On Saturday, No. 10-ranked Jeffersonville defeated Bloomington North and No. 24 Castle at the Bloomington North Tournament. Both matches were won by a 4-1 score.

All three Red Devil singles players — Patrick Elliott at No. 1, Shane Burke at No.2 and Dan Ott at No. 3 — all went undefeated, as did the No. 1 doubles team of Tyler Mullins and Joseph Nikitas.

“Today, our first four points really came though for us,” Jeff coach Mark Reilly said. “The guys have been up so high emotionally these last few days after beating (No. 10) Center Grove. I just wanted them to come out and focus and work hard the entire day. Sometimes, a bad loss occurs after a great win, and this team did a great job.”

Jeff goes to Providence on Tuesday.



BOYS’ SOCCER

• Floyd Central dominates Reitz: Joe Bauer had two goals and two assists to help lead Floyd Central to a 7-0 victory over Evansville Reitz.

Matt Kelecy also scored two goals, and Chris Short and Danny Laird had a goal and an assist apiece. Austin Jones also had a goal.

• Pioneers 1-1-1 at Hoosier Cup: Providence finished the Hoosier Cup in Bloomington with a win, a loss and a draw.

On Friday, the Pioneers fell to Richmond, 3-1. Max Neace scored Providence’s lone goal on an assist from Grant Vance.

Providence opened Saturday with a 0-0 tie with Heritage Christian. Later in the day, the Pioneers earned a 3-2 victory over Bedford North Lawrence.

Josh Maled, Trent Brown and Pierce Crawley each had goals in the victory. Neace and Andrew Wimp had an assist apiece.