By: Corbin Hubert
Head coach Emily Livingston offered her Union City girls volleyball team some reassuring words during some tense moments.
“Go out there and have fun,” Livingston said to her players in the middle of the third set during their match on Oct 17. She asked each player in her team’s huddle where their smile was.
“[The most important thing] to me as a coach is uplifting athletes and ensuring that each player sees their worth and value on and off the court,” Livingston said. “In the midst of a season where winning seemed far from reach, I had to continually remind the girls — and myself — to celebrate all of the small wins this season.”
The Indians at that point were down 14-9 in the aforementioned third set to Union Modoc and down two sets to nothing with their season on the verge of ending in their first game of the Indiana High School Athletic Association state volleyball tournament.
Union City fought their way back over the next few minutes and brought the score to within three points at 18-15.
However, the Rockets put out any hope for a comeback and vanquished the Indians 25-18 in the third set to complete the straight-set sweep. It was the second time the two schools met this season with Union winning the first matchup 3-0 in that match as well.
The 2024-25 Union City girls volleyball team poses for their team photo in the preseason. Due to a lack of upperclassmen, the underclassmen were able to get key minutes in preparation for next season. Emily Livingston, photo provided.
With this loss, Union City finished the season without a win, giving them their worst finish since 2014-2015 when they finished 1-20, according to MaxPreps.
Inexperience played a hand in the Indians’ (0-24, 0-8 conference) loss to Union Modoc (5-16, 0-9 conference) with their two seniors, Maegan Dickman and Shelby Arnold, contributing most of the offense for the team in the loss to the Rockets.
Arnold and Dickman led the team in kills for the season, with 104 and 80, respectively, according to MaxPreps. Considering the two senior captains will not be with the team next year, Livingston is preparing to hit the ground running in the upcoming offseason. Part of this includes more rigorous conditioning to build on the team’s intensity. Another piece of Livingston’s plan for 2025 includes building on the culture that already exists with her core of underclassmen.
“These players are new and have had new coaches just about every year of their careers,” Livingston said. “I think next year we can finally gain some continuity within the program which is vital for [these players] to be able to perform at their highest potential.”
In agreement is assistant varsity/head junior varsity (JV) coach Charlie LaFuze who saw a lot of promise from his young roster the same ones who will be taking the reins next fall.
LaFuze said sophomores Ava Dohme and Kierra Thacker showcased vocal leadership at multiple points throughout the season for the JV team. Along with Dohme and Thacker, LaFuze credited junior Sam Jones for providing sparks off the bench in JV games.
Another player LaFuze has earmarked for next season is sophomore Sofia Emrick.
“[Emrick] will have to step up big time for Coach Livingston next season with her being our tallest player,” LaFuze said. “We will be small next year losing our seniors, but with what JV we have moving up, they pack a big punch.”As for Union Modoc, their season ended on Oct. 19 to Blue River Valley in the sectional semifinals who then lost to Seton Catholic in the sectional championship on the same day. Following along with this bracket, Seton Catholic lost to Class A State Finalist Faith Christian in a three-set sweep on Nov 2.
Class Act articles are written by students in a classroom environment with a faculty adviser.
The Daily News welcomes thoughtful discussion on all of our stories, but please keep comments civil and on-topic. Read our full guidelines here.