Sheridan’s Adria Jump reached 1,000 career assists during the season. Jump leads in assists with 586 and will join the Blackhawks in their first-ever regional Saturday at Twin Lakes. (Dwight Casler/File photo)
Sheridan will make first regional appearance Saturday
By RICHIE HALL
Sheridan volleyball coach Melissa Jump considers the past eight years she has coached the Blackhawks as “a labor of love.”
During that time, Jump has slowly built the Sheridan team into a consistent winner. The Blackhawks have earned a better than .500 record over the past three seasons and that growth culminated on Saturday, Oct. 18 with a first-ever sectional championship.
Sheridan triumphed at Class 2A Sectional 39 at Tipton, starting with a semifinal sweep of Elwood. The Hawks then won five-set matches over Frankton in the semifinals and Lapel in the championship, coming back from a 12-9 deficit in the final set to beat the Bulldogs for the first time ever.
“It’s still kind of surreal,” said Jump. “A lot of time and effort goes into that.”
Jump said there is “a lot more investment than there used to be” in Blackhawks volleyball, such as a rec program now for young volleyball players.
“Our sophomore class was the first class to go through and start when the rec program started,” said Jump.
Those sophomores are making an impact for Sheridan. Lainey Mendenhall leads the Hawks in kills with 399 this season, or 4.5 per set. Adria Jump is on top of the serving list with 94 aces, 1.1 per set and has dished out 586 assists. Amiyah Doss leads the team in blocks with 34, followed by Mendenhall with 29 and Jump with 24.
The upperclassmen are contributing too, of course. Senior Meredith Krupp leads in digs with 416 for the season, or 4.7 per set.
Sheridan (19-10) travels to Twin Lakes this Saturday to compete in its first-ever regional. The Blackhawks play Benton Central, the No. 3-ranked team in Class 2A at 4 p.m. for the regional title.
The Bison (24-5) won the North Montgomery sectional with sweeps of Seeger in the first round, Delphi in the semis and defending 2A state champion Western Boone in the championship.
Senior Cali Foster leads the Benton Central offense with 277 kills and 77 aces. Junior Madison Minniear has 523 assists to her credit, followed by Isabelle Adams with 365.
Senior Bella Widmer is on top of the defense with 284 digs, while junior Rhyan Deno has 32 blocks.
“We haven’t seen them in person, but we watched film,” said Melissa Jump. “They are definitely going to be a tough team to beat, but I absolutely believe these girls have the grit to compete and give them a good match for sure. We go back to, why not us?”
