If Muncie, Ind., is not recognized as the high school volleyball capital of the state, the good people of Delaware County would probably like to know why.

Here, the Muncie club team has won the national title for Junior Olympic volleyball the last seven years.

Here, high schools in Muncie (Muncie Burris, Muncie Central, Delta) took three of the top 10 places in the final AP volleyball poll.

Here, freshmen start on teams that play in the semistate.

Muncie Central (37-2), ranked No. 2 in the final poll, meets No. 7 Delta (33-4) in the first round of Saturday's Delta Semistate. Both teams start two freshmen.

Muncie Central beat Delta 15-12, 15-6 in the regular season.

Fort Wayne Northrop, which boasts a 37-2 record and No. 4 ranking, meets 24-14 Warsaw in the other first-round semistate match.

Three top 10 teams in this semistate.

"I think this is the toughest semistate of the four," Muncie Central coach Dave Shondell said.

"It's the toughest since we've qualified," Delta coach Greg Dewey said.

These coaches would know.

Shondell's team went to the final four last year.

Dewey's teams have made it to the semistate four out of the last five years.

Remember the commercial a few years back with the old guy who said, "Smith-Barney makes money the old-fashioned way. They EARN it."? Shondell knows what that guy is talking about. His team has earned its way into the semistate.

Muncie Central won the sectional by beating Fort Wayne South Side and Yorktown, two of the best 25 teams in the state, in the first and second rounds. Muncie Central then knocked off No. 1 Muncie Burris in the sectional championship.

Then Muncie Central ousted No. 13 New Castle, who is coached by Dave's brother, John. Muncie Central beat Wapahani, a team that was at one time in the top 20, in the regional championship.

Next up, No. 7 Delta.

"We were really flat in the regional," Shondell said. "The win over Burris was so ... humongous ... that our kids just didn't want to do much the next week. We knew we were going to be vulnerable. We just happened to get by New Castle in the afternoon in a 2 1/2 hour match.

"We think we're going to be energized this week, and we really believe we're going to play a lot better on Saturday."

None of this is to say the Delta path has been smooth. It's been anything but.

Delta went six weeks without one of its best returning players (Christy Kelsey) and still won 33 matches. Kelsey, who missed because of an illness, is a four-year starter and one of only two seniors on the team.

Freshman Amber McGunegill started in her place.

"She picked up the slack for Christy when Christy got ill," Dewey said.

But it's been junior Julie Zylka, senior Natalie Marquell and sophomore Katie LaGrange who have led Delta into the semistate. Zylka led the team in blocks and hitting percentage. Marquell was the kills leader.

"Their strength is their middle hitters, Zylka and Marquell," Shondell said. "LaGrange is one of the top five setters in the state.

"Those three give them a pretty good nucleus. When you prepare for them, that's where you start."

Three Muncie Central seniors are high up on Dewey's concerns list.

Christi Girton, a 6-3 senior middle attacker, will play at Notre Dame on a full scholarship. Staci Shipley, also a senior middle attacker, is a three-year starter. Senior left-side hitter Genia Boyd may be 5-8, but she owns a 30-inch vertical leap.

"Their three seniors are huge," Dewey said. "They have a lot of athletic ability, a lot of size and a lot of experience.

"Central's depth is incredible. It makes them hard to scout. This weekend in their regional win, Melissa Eckelman, who hadn't played much all year, was their star."

Shondell revealed the two keys for his team to win.

"Serving," he said. "Passing. We can talk a lot about blocking and who has the power, those kind of things. If we go out and serve and pass and come to play, we feel like we have a good shot at winning.

"If we play tentative, sooner or later, somebody will beat us."

Dewey hopes it's sooner rather than later.

"Every small-county school here has great volleyball," he said. "Anybody can upset anybody around here on a given night."

Here in Muncie, all teams are used to winning. [[In-content Ad]]