JEFFERSONVILLE — Last season, New Albany outside hitter Catlin Lilly was named the News and Tribune Area Player of the Year and made the Indiana Coaches of Girls Sports Association All-State first team.

On Tuesday night at Johnson Arena, Lilly proved why she deserved those honors.

The senior delivered 18 kills and five blocks to lead the Class 4A No. 10 Bulldogs past Jeffersonville, 25-6, 25-15, 25-12. Lilly, who has given a verbal commitment to play NCAA Division I volleyball at Memphis next season, completed a double-double with a match-high 10 digs.

“She did what we asked her to do tonight,” New Albany coach John Breeding said. “I’ve asked her to pick up her game fundamentally and her captain’s leadership role with her voice.”

Red Devils’ coach Tim Cox had nothing but praise for Lilly afterwards.

“She’s hard to stop,” Cox said. “She didn’t have too many hitting errors. I told my back-row players that you have to shift up on her because if you don’t she will be tough to dig. She was hitting right between our blocks all night.”

Lilly showed she was going to be a force right from the outset. She delivered nine kills in the first-set victory, including seven in the Bulldogs’ 14-3 run to start the match.

Breeding said his team’s serving helped set the match’s tone in the opening set.

“We got in a zone by serving well, and serving well takes teams out of their offense,” Breeding said. “Our execution was really good. We kept pushing and they didn’t get back in it.”

Lilly spiked four kills to help New Albany bolt out to an 8-2 lead in the second set.

But after the Bulldogs (12-1) got the lead to as high as nine points in set two, the Red Devils (7-8) sliced their deficit down to 19-13. New Albany then responded with a 6-2 spurt to collect the second-set win.

New Albany got off to a sluggish start in set three. Jeff had an early 5-4 lead and trailed only 7-6 before the Bulldogs went on an 11-2 run to put the match away.

Early in the third set, Breeding called a timeout to get his troops refocused.

“I was reminding them of the things we have to do to be a championship team,” Breeding said. “Some of them still don’t get that.”

Still, Breeding was happy with his players’ overall effort on Tuesday.

“We played a very good match,” Breeding said. “As far as the team playing well three games in a row, I think we did that. We had some kids playing some different positions and they stepped up.”

New Albany middle hitter Alexis Lete made six kills and three blocks, while teammate Audrey Donastorg had eight digs and six kills. Bulldog setter Kenzie Prince dished out 35 assists.

“New Albany is the type of team you have to slow down,” Cox said. “You’ve got to make them make hitting errors. New Albany did a great job on serve-receive, and they were blocking really well.”

The Red Devils’ offense struggled all night, as they had 13 hitting errors and only 12 kills. Senior Avery Brumit led Jeff with five kills. Teammates Sam Grider and Jenna Reinhardt each smacked three kills and Reinhardt had eight assists. Marley Edwards led the Jeff defense with six digs, while Sara Garwood chipped in five.

Cox felt his players had a letdown after finishing an impressive second in the Jeff Invitational last Saturday, which included a come-from-behind win over Silver Creek.

“We seemed down after a big win on Saturday,” Cox said. “We were maybe a little tired and some of our girls were a little sick, but we’ll bounce back. I’m not upset about the loss tonight at all. We’re slowly climbing the ladder and preparing for sectional.”

New Albany will host Class 4A No. 3 and Hoosier Hills Conference rival Columbus East on Thursday. Jeff will visit Louisville Ballard tonight.



NEW ALBANY    25 25 25

JEFFERSONVILLE     6 15 12

Leaders

    Aces — New Albany: Samantha Miszkiel 2, Sara Schad 2; Jeff: Avery Brumit 1.

    Assists — New Albany: Kenzie Prince 35; Jeff: Jenna Reinhardt 8.

    Blocks — New Albany: Catlin Lilly 5, Kelsey Guess 3, Alexis Lete 3; Jeff: Brumit 1.

    Digs — New Albany: Lilly 10, Audrey Donastorg 8, Schad 8, Prince 5, Miszkiel 4; Jeff: Marley Edwards 6, Sara Garwood 5, Rachel Williams 4.

    Kills — New Albany: Lilly 18, Lete 6, Donastorg 6, Guess 4; Jeff: Brumit 5, Sam Grider 3, Reinhardt 3.