Carroll sends statement with season-opening sweeps: It's best in the state.

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FORT WAYNE — One day and two matches into the 2026 Indiana high school volleyball season and I must admit: I drastically underrated Fort Wayne Carroll in my statewide preseason rankings.

I slotted the two-time defending Class 4A state champions third behind No. 1 Westfield and No. 2 Plainfield based on who everyone had returning. But after traveling to Fort Wayne and watching those Chargers dismantle both teams Saturday, I can say with full confidence that Carroll is the best team in the state.

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And with ample room for growth and a stronger regular-season schedule, it may end up not being very close.

The Chargers, ranked 21st nationally, opened the season with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 27-25) win over Plainfield in a rematch of last year's state final, then dominated 2025 semistate opponent Westfield, 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-16).

Carroll (2-0) has won 52 matches dating back to Sept. 30, 2024, and boasts a 148-10 set differential during that stretch.

"That was a good start to the season," 2028 Texas commit Cala Haffner said. "We're coming together with a newer group and learning how to work with the newer girls and getting them involved in what we've been doing."

There are a lot of new faces in this year's lineup, which graduated three of its top-five attackers — including Miss Volleyball Bailey Sinish, who accounted for 36% of her team's kills — both middle blockers and primary setter. But Carroll still has a solid nucleus of returners to build around and the new faces stepping into prominent varsity roles have spent the past season(s) grinding against their predecessors during practice as they paid their dues.

Iron sharpens iron, as they say, and now it's their turn to step into bigger roles. 

"We had so much depth last year and a lot of the people who didn't play are great players," said outside hitter Sarah Stegall, a senior Notre Dame commit. "(Now) we get to see all of them shine and have their breakout years."

Coach Pandy Sinish cited defense as one of the Chargers' greatest strengths with standout defensive specialists and pins who can pass, and they demonstrated as much vs. Plainfield. 

Carroll was "scrappy," as junior outside hitter Katelyn Peters described it, digging out seemingly every shot and seldom letting the ball hit the floor — no small feat against a Quakers lineup that's led by 2028 UCLA commit Audrey Utterback and 2027 Northern Illinois commit Marley VanWanzeele. 

It helps when you have arguably the nation's best libero anchoring the back row with Haffner (17 digs, five assists, zero errors on nine receptions), but everyone was (and is) invested defensively for Carroll. Senior DS Ella Cracker logged 10 digs with a team-high 21 receptions (one error), and both Stegall and Peters were active, as well, combining for 10 digs apiece.

"They have the best pursuit I've ever seen on a high school team," Plainfield coach Lori Pax said. "And their ball control is insane."

The one weakness in Carroll's season-opening performance was its offensive efficiency. It finished with a .269 hitting percentage as a team, but committed 23 attack errors, its most since a five-set win over Homestead (27) on Oct. 26, 2024.

The Chargers tightened things up against Westfield, hitting .263 with 19 errors — the highlight of a stronger all-around team performance overall.

They were cleaner in the second match, Sinish observed, noting improvements in ball control, communication and defensive discipline.

"(Our communication) has definitely been getting better," she said. "We've been trying out a lot of things, because we don't know what works best. 5-1, 6-2; this middle vs. that middle, those kinds of things. And we're going to continue to try some of that. What we did today was awesome, but now we're going to get to work on some other opportunities."

Another notable observation from the Chargers' win over Westfield?

Their killer instinct.

The Rocks led the opening set 13-11 following a Paige Rudolph kill and Kendyl Strack ace. They came in confident — deservedly so — the Carroll players agreed, but when back-to-back errors tied the set at 13, you could feel (and see) Westfield's energy drop.

And Carroll took advantage, building out a multi-point lead as it closed out the set on a 12-6 run. 

The Chargers' energy was consistent throughout, then once given the opportunity to take control, they did so and never let up, staying aggressive — even when serving, Haffner noted — and getting their opponent out of system.

"We knew they were going to have their good swings and their good plays," Peters said, "but we weren't afraid of that."

Rocks coach Sean Keeve said they preached "intent over execution," but as the first set progressed, "the intent wasn't there as much as we wanted it to be."

"It's like we were trying to play it safe and got a little bit tight, and that's when those unforced errors and the lack of confidence and conviction kind of stuck around," he continued. "Hat tip to Carroll. Even when they were down, they just kept at it. They didn't stop. They made good errors and they executed. They executed, and they look like they're in midseason form."

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen. Get IndyStar's high school coverage sent directly to your inbox with the High School Sports newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Carroll sends statement with season-opening sweeps: It's best in the state.

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