2012 Season Recap

Only two players returned from last year's boys' volleyball team, which finished as the state runners-up. Replacing nine seniors, combined with integrating several new varsity players, the Rebels set their goal to extend the regional title streak to five seasons and to return to the state finals.

"With a team as young as ours," said head coach Mitch Allard, "our whole goal was to win regionals and get back to state."

Befitting their status as a team in transition, the Rebels didn't enter the state top ten poll until the seventh week of the season. They climbed to seventh in the rankings two weeks later, fueled in part by a five-game win at then seventh-ranked Lutheran. The Rebels continued their momentum into May, capped by a four-game victory over Chesterton to win the program's fifth straight regional title and advance to the state finals. At state, the Rebels fell in the quarterfinals in three games to Hebron, the eventual state runners-up.

The Rebels finished the season with a 17-7 record and were paced by their two returning players from last season, Josh Brown and Dane Staton. Brown was named the team's defensive MVP and Staton won team offensive MVP honors. A season that started with uncertainty ended with the program's fifth-straight regional title, a fact not lost on Coach Allard.

"Our team followed the lead of our two returning varsity players (Brown and Staton) and practiced diligently," said Allard. "I feel that our program compares well to any other boys' volleyball program in Indiana."