Faith Christian volleyball makes second straight trip to state – Journal & Courier

FRANKFORT — Faith Christian freshman Taylor Hill understands the pressure of being the coach’s daughter.
All eyes upon her when walking into the gym and at just 14 years old, comes with being the expectations of not only being Josh Hill’s daughter but being the child of her school’s athletic director.
And yet, with every swing and rep ― she not only met expectations ― she surpassed them.
Hill swung away early with accuracy and finished with 11 kills and an ace to help Faith Christian punch its second straight trip to the IHSAA class 1A championship and captured the semi-state title in four sets 25-19 25-23 18-25 25-15 over Rossville.
Faith Christian (31-4) will play Trinity Lutheran (22-11) for the IHSAA class 1A state championship for the second straight year. Trinity Lutheran swept Faith Christian in last year’s match hosted at Worthen Arena on the campus of Ball State.
“I feel like I’m a copy of him,” Hill said of her father. “We respond the same to stuff. We react the same to bad stuff. We’re kind of the same.”
Hill became the first freshman to start at outside hitter for Faith Christian this season.
“It is a ton of pressure,” Hill said. “I have to prove myself to a lot of people. He does yell at me a little bit more than other people. But it’s all worth it in the end and it makes me better.”
Faith Christian overcame 12 service errors with solid shot receiving from senior libero Caya Stillings. Stillings shifted and helped the Eagles maintain their shape to create opportunities for Hill and senior Olivia Barber.
Barber who sets and plays outside hitter finished with 16 kills and a block.
“We put a lot of pressure on our servers because we are a good serving team most of the time,” Barber said. “That’s just what gets us to win games but when we do have errors, we are really good at picking each other up, shaking it off and going to the next point. Whenever you are serving hard and trying to get an ace, you’re going to have errors if you’re serving hard enough. It comes with the game so just taking that off and playing the next point is all its about.”
Rossville prides itself on pace.
Dig, pass, shot. No waiting, nothing lofty.
Pinpoint and direct.
The quicker the passes, the faster the shots and the degree of difficulty grows to pick up on shots and create a defensive rhythm.
“We have high intensity and one of our goals was to go at a faster pace so our opponents couldn’t keep up,” Rossville middle hitter Ava Burkle said. “We’re just a good group of volleyball players and that’s all there is to it.”
In a season of firsts, it’s the buzzing Hornets style that’s captured the attention of the Lafayette area and add more hardware to an already storied program that’s produced state champions in girls basketball and softball.
Now comes the turn of Rossville girls volleyball which swept Triton 25-6, 31-29, 25-12 and advanced to the program’s first semi-state championship appearance.
“The community is a huge piece of that,” Rossville coach Lexi Ellenwood said. “We are very grateful for our parents not just because they come and support the games but because they have such great kids and such great humans.”
Burkle added 10 kills while freshman outside hitter Blaire Wellman led Rossville (31-3) with 18 kills.
“My style depends on my team,” Wellman said. “I’m not a singular player. I depend on everyone and I can’t do this by myself. Addi Gorbett talks me through everything, Ava Burkle we wouldn’t have these blocks without her and Cassie Schoon is such a great passer. I can’t do it without them.”
Faith Christian senior setter and outside hitter Olivia Barber kept the match plan simple in its playoff rematch against South Newton in the IHSAA class 1A semistate round.
Don’t think where the ball will go, just aim simple and swing.
A philosophy that proved concrete for Faith Christian behind Barber’s 19 kills to defeat South Newton 25-11 21-25 25-22 25-20 and advanced to the IHSAA semi-state championship on Saturday night for the second straight season.
“If I’m in those big moments, there’s no time for tipping,” Barber said. “You just go for it. If you see a hole in the block, I’m going to hit it. I just go for it. No time to tip, just swing.”
Faith Christian freshman Taylor Hill added nine kills backed by a controlled back row led by junior setter Kelsey Olehy and senior libero Caya Stillings.
Hill was undaunted by the pressure in her first semi-state game with her father Josh being the head coach.
“I just find the joy in playing,” Hill said. “Even if I make a mistake, its a funny miss I can’t do again and we just get right back at it.”
South Newton (21-11) struggled with 13 service errors including six in the fourth set and one that ended the season.
While the ending for the Rebels was bumpy, South Newton still made its season successful in reaching its second straight semi-state round after having never won a regional title until 2024.
“It was very fun,” South Newton junior libero Briley Iseminger said. “We had to take it one point at a time and I’m proud of where we are.”
Sophomore Jada Cripe had 19 kills to lead South Newton coached by Laura Robbins.
Robbins reflected on a season that started with an 1-4 start and playing quality opponents like Faith Christian and Rossville during the regular season before turning around and winning eight straight matches before semi-state.
“As a coach you put in a lot of time and miss a lot of time with your family,” Robbins said. “These girls are like another family to me and it makes it easy. Coming to practice, I don’t think they understand how they impact me. They have a significant impact on my life and I do it not only because I want to make them better volleyball players but better people.”
Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached atehanson@jconline.com, on Twitter at EthanAHanson and Instagram at  ethan_a_hanson.

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