Carmel High School is known for its abundance of IHSAA State Championships in many sports. One title, however, has eluded the Greyhounds’ grasp. The IHSAA women’s volleyball State tournament has never ended with a Carmel victory. This year beginning with the Sectional however, the CHS varsity volleyball team looks to change that, with possibly the strongest CHS volleyball team to ever to grace the court of the Eric Clark Activity Center. Despite the team’s 23-3 record (as of Oct. 13 press deadline), and Number-6 ranking, Shelby Foyer, varsity defensive specialist and junior, said does not feel pressure to win State.
Foyer said, “I don’t know if there’s a lot of pressure for us to win state. I just think it just a matter of us believing we can actually do it.”
There will be challenges in the way, however, as the Greyhounds will have to get past top-ranked and undefeated Avon, which has a 25-match winning streak.
Foyer said, “Avon (is tough competition) for sure, they are ranked Number-1 right now, and we had a close match with them, which we lost in 5 (sets), but we won the first two games.”

The Greyhounds success may have come to a surprise to many people. According to MaxPreps.com, the team came off an 8-14 campaign the previous season under former coach William Bastin. But first-year coach Rich Coleman has put a spark into the Greyhounds leading them into a position to do serious damage in the IHSAA Volleyball tournament. Gabby Arroyo, varsity defensive specialist and senior believes that the coaching change is one of the main reasons for the Greyhounds success.
Arroyo said, “We totally redid the coaching staff this year, so I think that has played a huge role having such a new aspect and fresh take. Last year we were terrible, so coming from that into this year has been great. This is one of my first years in high school and actually having a winning team. It’s been really fantastic. I think practices are more intense and (Coleman) has a way of motivating us and getting us to play to the best of our abilities. (We have) increased focus and everybody is working toward a common goal to achieve.”
Coleman said he has seen the motivation from his players.
“They are very motivated to win every match so the state tournament will not change their attitude or approach,” he said.
As for Avon, Arroyo said she believes Avon is tough, but beatable.
Arroyo said, “We have already played Avon. It was a very competitive match. They have some really good players. As the season progresses, I think we will definitely be able to beat them. We know what their strengths and weaknesses are, and we’ve improved also.”
Arroyo and the other seniors have one last chance to bring Carmel a championship, and Arroyo said she hopes to bring the title home.
Arroyo said, “(Winning State) would just be phenomenal. I mean, we really worked so hard to really turn the program around. We’ve not really been that great in the past. This year we’ve really turned around, so it really would be amazing to win State. That’s what we’ve been working for all season.”
The Greyhounds will face Westfield on Thursday in the first round of the Sectional, which will take place at Hamilton Southeastern. In its match against Westfield earlier this season, the team was victorious in five sets. If they win that game, they will face either Zionsville or Fishers on Oct. 22.