By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – Any list of the best programs in the state, whether the criteria is championships or class, has to include Providence near the top. As wrestling legend Ric Flair often stated, with a “Woooooo!” at the conclusion of his rant, “If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.”
Bedford North Lawrence got a first-hand look at the best. Providence has slid down the slope a little in recent seasons, discovering how the lower levels live and how much that hurt, but the Pioneers are climbing back toward the summit. They showed the Stars that trajectory during a three-set sweep on Monday night.
Powered by front-line thunder and constant synchronized movement, Providence cruised to a 25-10, 25-16, 25-15 victory. All eyes are instantly drawn to 6-3 junior tower Isabella Manos on the front line, although she’s not alone in star power. Providence never seems to run out of that.
The Pioneers (9-3) never trailed at any point as BNL (3-5) suffered its fourth straight loss.
“It shows you how high you have to climb, how hard you have to push yourself,” BNL coach Aaron Wagoner said. “They’re No.1 in our state. I admire Coach (Terri) Purichia as much as anybody. She’s phenomenal, and she runs a pretty good program, too.”
The Providence resume includes five state championships (in Class 2A and 3A, which pushed the Pioneers into the highest bracket, thanks to the success factor rule in the IHSAA), 37 sectional titles (fourth in state history) and a Hall of Fame plaque for Purichia, who was inducted in 2024.
That’s a huge burden of tradition to carry. So when Providence went 14-18 in 2024 (and the volleyball world gasped a little), it rekindled the Pioneers.
“It’s tough,” Purichia said. “When these girls were freshmen, it was our first losing season in Providence history. Imagine dropping that torch. It felt really bad, they felt like they were letting the whole community down. It’s hard on your ego. We play the best, and the last few years they’ve let us know about it.
“We’re still very young. We’ve battled through two seasons with them being freshmen and sophomores, and they’re starting to play more mature. They’re a little more calm. They are carrying a huge part of our offensive load.”
Manos (8 kills and 4 blocks) and junior Hadley Hasselbring (7 kills) are the catalysts. They got plenty of help from junior Mia Kaiser (7 kills), freshman Cadence Hansen (7 kills) and sophomore Rylie Neal (24 assists and 4 aces) against BNL. Manos was “like high school players against a 7-footer in basketball,” Wagoner said. She got their attention and intimidated with just her presence. So did Louisville football coach Jeff Brohm, on hand to watch his daughter, among the star gazers in BNL Fieldhouse.
For the Stars, facing the Pioneers was a learning experience. Izzy Root had 6 kills and 5 digs, Lily Mishler totaled 4 kills, Jenna Allen added 4 kills, and Adalynn Bailey had 15 assists. There just wasn’t a lot of chances for stats with Providence dominating most points. Both programs will compete in 3A in the postseason.
“Some of our girls have good resilience, they move on to the next ball,” Wagoner said. “You can’t go down and stay down.”
”I love what they do, they are so athletic, so quick,” Purichia said. “We had to be very patient on offense.”
BNL will seek to end its recent skid when the Stars host Scottsburg on Tuesday.
