MORRISTOWN — Hauser was looking for its first volleyball state championship appearance a year ago before Indianapolis Tindley derailed the Jets in the semistate semifinals.
The Tigers were looking to end Hauser’s season for the second time in Saturday’s regional final at Morristown, but this time, the Jets got their revenge by beating Tindley 25-17, 26-24, 25-14.
“It does feel really good to get that redemption,” Hauser senior outside hitter Sarah Tedder said. “Tindley is a great team, and I absolutely love playing them. They played their hearts out, but we really pulled together this time.”
The Class A No. 2 Jets (34-4) will return to the semistate, where they will play Barr-Reeve Saturday at either Columbus East or Jasper. The time and location will be decided today.
Hauser maintained comfortable leads in the first two sets, but Tindley did not go away quietly in the third. The Jets had a 20-17 lead before Tindley took a 24-23 advantage. Hauser rallied together to take the final three points.
“(Tindley) is a great team, and they have some good players,” Hauser coach Jeff Case said. “I’m just really proud that we were able to do that.”
The Jets are familiar with Tindley standout Amiya Jones, and Case said the goal was to keep the ball off the top of the net. They did a solid job of keeping Jones moving, which helped Hauser get the win, Case said.
“We knew the matchups weren’t in our favor there, so we tried to move our middles, spread the court from pin to pin and try to keep it away,” Case said. “We wanted to work her in the back row and try to weigh her down.”
Madie Sherman led the Jets with 13 kills and two blocks. Sydney Schoen had nine kills and a team-high 20 digs. Alana Owen recorded with 28 assists. Tedder finished with 11 digs and a team-high three aces. Megan Swinford added 10 digs.
Hauser survived a scare from Indianapolis Lutheran in Saturday afternoon’s semifinal. The Jets outlasted the Saints 25-20, 23-25, 16-25, 25-23, 15-8.
The Jets struggled in the second and third sets after taking the first one. Case said the Jets’ good passing from the first set by went away in the next two.
Hauser was two points away from the end of its season when it trailed 23-22 in the fourth set. The Jets took the next three points to force a fifth set, then finished off the Saints.
Schoen led Hauser with 34 digs in the semifinals and had 12 kills, second to Sherman’s team-high 15. Owen recorded 40 assists; and Hannah Johnson, Sherman and Owen all finished with four blocks. Taylor Henderson served three aces. Shelby Fugate had 16 digs, and Tedder added 14.
