The Hoosierland Spartans recently took 3rd place in a field of 132 teams this past weekend at the Mideast Qualifier. The team competed in the Club Division and fell short of a National Bid by one match.

“Up to this point, all we had been doing was facing Open Competition. You’re talking about some of the best teams in the country. I just kept telling the girls not to be discouraged, because it was going to make us better,” Coach Eugene Kim said.

Senior outside hitter Cara Barkes agreed.

“Playing better teams that pushed us to always play well and as a team made us better prepared for this tournament,” Barkes added.

After coming off a 1-9 record in two previous tournaments, the Spartans strung together nine consecutive wins to put them in the Final Four of the tournament. The Spartans began play against Pikes Peak (Colorado), Audubon Volleyball Academy (Kentucky), and Renaissance (Pennsylvania). The Spartans defeated all three teams in two games to advance them in the Gold Division.

Congratulations to Ellyn Jones who was recently selected as one of the Top Sophomores in the country. Prepvolleyball listed Ellyn Jones in their annual Sophomore 79 list which distinguishes the top 79 Sophomores based on their high school season. Ellyn was also on the Frosh 59 list for her performance her freshman year. Ellyn is the setter at Columbus East high school and has led them to back to back Sectional Titles. Ellyn is playing her first year at Hoosierland Volleyball Club for the 18 Spartans. Ellyn also has a sister, Morgan Jones, who played for Hoosierland in 2005 and just recently finished her collegiate career at Elmhurst College.

Here’s what prepvolleyball had to say about Ellyn:

“Columbus East struggled to an uncharacteristic 24-12 mark in 2008 but Jones’ game did not suffer. The team MVP, she led the Olympians in assists with 1022 and several other statistical categories and was an All Conference selection. She added 273 digs, 87 kills and 48 aces.”