When the Carmel High School volleyball team started the season 1-6, coach William Bastin didn’t panic.

The Greyhounds have gone 24-4 since and enter Saturday’s Class 4A Perry Meridian Regional with a 25-10 record. Carmel will play fourth-ranked Center Grove in one semifinal, and Avon will meet Warren Central in the other.

“I was a little concerned for team morale and everything, but one of those things we talked about was ‘It isn’t where you start. It’s where you finish,’ " Bastin said. “It kind of weighs on you a little bit at the beginning, but we’ve gotten progressively better. We made a lot of errors in the beginning, but hopefully, we’re getting rid of those unforced errors.”

Seniors Maggie Harbison and Emily Reber were part of the Carmel team that made it to the state’s final four in 2007. Harbison, a Butler recruit, has 421 kills, 361 digs and 50 blocks; Reber, a Drake recruit, has 419 digs and 40 aces. Senior Alli Norris (setter), also a Butler recruit, has 435 assists, senior Kelly Rownd (setter) has 46 aces and freshman Lauren Pitz has 58 blocks.

Irish ready to roll

The Cathedral football team clearly established itself as the top team in Class 4A when it opened the season by beating the No. 1 team in 5A in back-to-back weeks in Carmel and Warren Central. But after a brutal first four weeks — including games against Cincinnati St. Xavier and Bishop Chatard — the Irish have beaten six opponents by a combined score of 284-72.

Coach Rick Streiff , however, has seen no signs of the Irish (9-1) losing their edge heading into Friday’s game against Mooresville (8-2) at North Central at 7 p.m. in the sectional semifinals.

A former Monrovia player, Streiff was roommates with Mooresville coach Mark Bless (Greenwood) at the North-South All-Star Game 30 years ago.

“We had the flu bug (but) that’s been good,” said Streiff, who has remained friendly with Bless. "It created some depth out of necessity that we might not have been able to do otherwise and that’s allowed us to keep our edge.

“We don’t talk about (being the favorite). Our kids are smart enough to know we’ve got a good team but that every week we’ve got to come to play and that it’s important for us to do the little things to get better.”

Mt. Vernon volleyball

After earning the program’s ninth sectional championship Saturday, the Mt. Vernon volleyball team is aiming for its first regional title.

It won’t be easy at the Class 3A Shelbyville Regional. The Marauders (21-14) take on Western Boone (23-7) in one semifinal, while No. 2 Brebeuf Jesuit (30-1) and No. 8 Batesville square off in the other semifinal.

“We can only go out and take care of ourselves,” Marauders coach Kris Lashaway said. “We just need to go out, play our game and see what happens.”