Cats progress to revenge championship tilt with "nemesis" Castle – The Herald

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JASPER Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 were a pair of early-season barometers for Jasper volleyball.

The Wildcats (21-12) hosted Castle, followed by Evansville North two days later on the Jasper hardwood.

The Wildcats dropped both of these matches, 3-1 and 3-2, respectively.

In Sectional 16, the Cats are amidst their revenge tour on the same court.

On Thursday, the Cats fell behind 1-0 to North in the opener and didn't flinch. They rallied off three successive set wins.

They did it convincingly the Huskies didn't eclipse 20 points after the opener.

"I think this group has had exponential growth from the beginning of the year until now, skill-wise and on the mental side," said fourth-year coach Jennifer Hopf.

The Wildcats continued the surge in form with a pair of 25-12 wins and 25-19 against Evansville Harrison in the first of their two matches to decide the championship on Saturday.

"A lot of what we've been focusing on later on in the season, the postseason, is our mental toughness," Hopf said. "Making sure that we can stay at the same level of play that we would like to, that we can stay or are capable of staying at."

With Castle knocking off Evansville Reitz 3-1, the stars have aligned for a renewal of the Cats-Castle rivalry with hardware up for grabs at 7 p.m.

"Castle's a very beatable team," Hopf said. "I think for us, our skill level is there, 100%. I do not doubt that. I think for us it will be more of the mental side for preparing to stay up here the entire time and knowing that we are going to make mistakes, but then bouncing back from that."

In the previous title bout, the Knights swept the Cats.

Jasper has won 38 titles, including six straight to move up to Class 4A in 2017. The Cats have been knocking on the door in the early stages of competing in the largest class.

The Knights have ousted the Cats from the postseason at this stage in four of the past five postseasons.

The Knights have been a fixture getting out of this bracket. Since 1993, they've dropped one sectional match against Reitz in 2020.

Castle holds the state record across all classes for consecutive sectional plaques with 26 and has earned 27 of the past 28.

The Cats haven't let off the gas from the program's recent emergence. Not this year, despite returning just three varsity full-timers from the runner-up squad.

Junior Paige Giesler, senior Bailey Lents and junior Ava Englert logged a lot of time on the court, while sophomore Carlee Rogers played limited sets last year.

As Jasper seeks its inaugural 4A crown, Hopf said avoiding five-point lulls is paramount.

"I have all the confidence in our team that today is our day," Hopf said. "We can do that."

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Cats progress to revenge championship tilt with "nemesis" Castle - The Herald