Varsity award winners from the 2023 Trinity Lutheran volleyball banquet are, front from left, Laura Roeder, Carson Bowling and Addison Darlage, and back from left, Kiley Zabel, Laina Klinge and Madison Keith. Drew Hubbard is not pictured.
Submitted photo
It was a classy evening at Three Bin Farm in Seymour on Wednesday with Trinity Lutheran hosting its annual banquet for the volleyball season.
It was a successful 2023 campaign for the Cougars, who went 19-16 with one of the highest strength of schedules in the state.
Trinity Lutheran faced off with 10 sectional champions, three regional champions and three state finalists during the course of this season.
Cougars head coach Janet VanLiew spoke about the season for Trinity.
“Overall, I think we had a successful season. We play an incredibly difficult schedule in hopes of preparing us for the state tournament, which I think it did,” VanLiew said.
“Obviously, we would like to have gone further in the tournament because our goal is always to be the last winner. We will continue to work in the offseason and will be even more ready next season.”
There were a lot of awards handed out during the banquet.
VanLiew spoke about the achievements that the team had achieved this season.
“I handed out a lot of awards that honestly could have gone to various players,” she said. “Each of our girls worked incredibly hard to be the best player she could be. It’s always special when players are recognized at the national level, like our AVCA Academic Award, but also at the state level, where we had numerous all-district, all-academic, all-state and all-star recipients.”
The seniors also were recognized. Drew Hubbard, Laina Klinge, Allison Ward and Kiley Zabel were all honored for their time with the Cougars.
VanLiew spoke about the four seniors who finished their Trinity volleyball careers this season.
“For the past four years, this year’s senior class have been role players who have done what was asked of them,” VanLiew said.
“This year, I asked a lot of them, not only from a skill standpoint but from a leadership standpoint, and they responded in a big way. The Trinity volleyball program will sorely miss this group of intelligent, hardworking, dedicated seniors.”
The Cougars secured their 10th straight sectional trophy this season, making it all the way to the regional final, dominating New Washington and Rising Sun in straight sets in the sectional.
Trinity then defeated Loogootee in straight sets before falling to Class A runner-up Tecumseh. The Cougars will now prepare for 2024.
Awards
MVP: Addison Darlage
Most improved: Madison Keith
Cougar Award: Drew Hubbard, Kiley Zabel
Game On Award: Laina Klinge
Milestones
Addison Darlage: 3,000 career assists
Laura Roeder: 1,500 career digs
Carson Bowling: 1,000 career kills
Madison Keith: 500 career kills and digs
School records
Laura Roeder: Total serving aces (89), digs (607) and serve receives (645) in a season; she is tied with Kamzi Gross in digs and Bailey Tabeling in serve receives
Addison Darlage: Total career assists (3,050+)
IHSVCA All-State
First team: Laura Roeder, Addison Darlage
Second team: Carson Bowling
Academic All-State
Drew Hubbard, Allison Ward, Kiley Zabel
IHSVCA Class A South All-District
Laura Roeder, Carson Bowling, Madison Keith, Addison Darlage