For the second year in a row, the Indiana University Kokomo women's volleyball program will compete in the NAIA Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa.
On Saturday, IU Kokomo defeated Indiana Tech, 25-13, 20-25, 25-11, 25-18 in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round match.
Julia Sanders (photo), a Triton Central graduate, had one service ace and 10 digs for No. 11-ranked IU Kokomo, who improved to 32-5 this season.
There are 24 teams preparing for the national tournament in Iowa. Eight pools with three teams in each start the tournament this week.
On Thursday, IU Kokomo will face No. 19 Midland University (18-11). Those two teams met on Aug. 15 in the season opener for both teams in Marian, Indiana, at an invitational hosted by Indiana Wesleyan. IU Kokomo prevailed 3-1.
IU Kokomo will then face No. 6 Eastern Oregon (29-4) Friday with the top team in the pool moving on to the next round.
Here is a look at other Shelby County graduates competing at the collegiate level:
Brayden Wilkins
The Triton Central graduate was named to the All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Second Team following the conclusion of the football season.
Wilkins was an impact performer for Franklin College on special teams where he led the program with 567 return yards (22.7 yards per return) this season.
Brooklyn Bailey
The Triton Central graduate had 10 points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block Tuesday in Kaskaskia College’s 70-36 loss at Vincennes University.
Olivia Faust
The Triton Central graduate finished with six points, seven rebounds, one block and three steals Saturday in No. 19 Marian’s 69-51 win over Spring Arbor University.
With the win, the Knights improved to 7-1 (2-0 Crossroads League).
On Wednesday, Marian defeated Grace College, 85-66. Faust had six points, one rebound, one block and one steal.
Kyle Crim
The Morristown graduate scored 14 points and had two rebounds and three steals Saturday for Hanover College in a 78-72 win over DePauw in the Earlham Classic in Richmond, Indiana.
Carnegie Mellon defeated Hanover Sunday, 90-89, at the Earlham Classic. Crim finished with six points, one assist and one block for the Panthers (4-1).
Drake Moore
The Morristown graduate had seven points and two rebounds Saturday for IU Kokomo in an 89-74 win over Olivet Nazarene University.
Tenleigh Phelps
The Triton Central graduate scored 25 points, grabbed nine rebounds and added four assists and one steal Wednesday in IU South Bend’s 77-69 loss at IU Northwest in Gary, Indiana.
IU South Bend rebounded Saturday to defeat Calumet College of St. Joseph, 98-60. Phelps had 12 points, eight rebounds and two assists for the Titans (6-1).
Bella Larrison
The Waldron graduate scored a game-high 20 points and added six rebounds, two assists and five steals Saturday for Anderson in a 79-77 loss to the University of Olivet at the Hope College Tournament in Holland, Michigan.
On Friday, No. 12 Hope College defeated Anderson, 82-52. Larrison finished with five points, one rebound, one assist, one steal and one block.
Rylie Stephens
The Triton Central graduate scored five points and pulled down three rebounds Wednesday for West Florida to help produce a 71-65 win at Tuskegee.
West Florida is 4-0 this season.
Hadyn Ball
The Triton Central graduate finished 2-2 for Wabash College wrestling Saturday at the Concordia University Open.
Competing at 197 pounds, Ball started the tournament with an 18-1 win over the University of Dubuque’s Nic Poston.
Wisconsin Whitewater’s Evan Danowski then defeated Ball, 14-2, to send him to the consolation bracket where he defeated Dubuque’s Michael McCutcheon (20-4) then lost to Wartburg’s Zach Weidler (7-2).
Will Rife
The Shelbyville graduate helped Wabash College men’s swimming with the Gail Pebworth Invitational, held in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
The championship was the first for the Little Giants since the event’s inception in 2018.
The three-day event started Friday. Rife contributed 55 points to the Little Giants’ winning total with strong performances in three relay events and the 100 butterfly.
Rife placed 16th in the 100 butterfly in 54.42 seconds. He also was part of three relay teams that secured points with top-20 finishes.
Wabash totaled 1,257.5 points to hold off Ohio Northern (1192) and DePauw (1098) as well as five other programs.
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