Rochester made it back-to-back volleyball sectional titles. But the Zebras may have to go into this round of the postseason not as healthy as they’d like to be.

Senior setter Molly Conley went down with an injury last weekend in the sectional.  Head coach Erin Leap earlier this week said Conley is a wait and see going into the regional.

The team was able to settle in after the injury.  And now, a week of practice to prepare in case Conley can’t go.  Conley leads the team with 563 assists.

Coach Leap says it’s been a very rewarding season.  Throw in the second place finish in the TRC after the Covid-delayed start.

Rochester has won seven in a row and ten of eleven overall heading into Saturday’s LaVille.Regional.

Semifinals matchups

Rochester (16-7) vs North Judson (23-8)

Fairfield (18-14) vs Andrean (16-4)

Only close family members will be allowed to purchase tickets to attend the North Miami at Caston sectional football game Friday night according to a resolution from the Fulton County Health Department.

Caston (2-7) hosts North Miami (1-8) in a 1A Sectional 44 quarterfinal Friday.  The winner will play #12 Northfield (6-3).  Northfield was an automatic qualifier for the semifinal round after 3rd-ranked Southwood (9-0) pulled its team from postseason competition due to Covid.

A familiar voice in the hockey and sports broadcasting world is calling it a career.

Mike "Doc" Emrick has been calling hockey games for nearly 50 years. However, when you talk about his career, you have to go back to where it all started -- a small Indiana town called LaFontaine.

That's where Emrick grew up. That's also where he listened to Fort Wayne Komets hockey on the radio. Bob Chase was the broadcaster on WOWO.

After pestering his parents enough times to take him to The Coliseum, he got his opportunity to see the Komets in-person. He also got to meet Bob Chase. That's where Emrick's love for broadcasting really took off.

He went to Manchester College (now Manchester University) and majored in speech, then went to Miami University for radio and television, then received Ph.D in communications at Bowling Green State University. Hence his nickname, "Doc."

Emrick started broadcasting hockey in 1973 for the Port Huron Flags. His career took off from there. Over the next 47 years, he called more than 3,750 professional games, including 22 Stanley Cup Finals, and the Olympics.

On Monday, Emrick announced he is hanging up the headset.

Argos captured regional titles in boys and girls soccer while Rochester was winning the Bremen volleyball sectional.  And Rochester girls cross country advanced to the semistate in a busy October weekend for fall sports.

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeting that the Colts game against the Cincinnati Bengals this Sunday -- is still on as planned. That tweet from Irsay after it was announced this morning that "several individuals" within the organization had tested positive for coronavirus. The team confirming those were false positives.

The team says it was one Colts player and three staff members that initially came back with positive COVID tests. The team saying after they were re-tested they came back negative.

The Colts have now reopened their practice facility and will continue getting ready for Sunday's game.

One of the busiest weekends of the high school sports season with soccer and cross country regionals, volleyball sectional semifinals and championships and Week 9 football.

Boys soccer sectionals

At Argos

Argos will play Caston in a semifinal tonight.  Winamac and Culver Community in the other semifinal.

At Fort Wayne Canterbury

FW Caterbury and Manchester are in one semifinal.  Manchester downed Rochester 5-3 in PK’s to advance Monday.

FW Concordia Lutheran vs Tippecanoe Valley is the other semifinal tonight

Girls sectionals

At LaVille

Tuesday

#6 (1A) Argos  handled Culver Community 6-1. 

Rochester shut out North Miami 7-0.  Mercedes Brown scored a hat trick for the Zebras.  Macie Nelson scored two goals.  Abby Richard and Amy Williams with goals in the win.

In the regular season meeting, Argos shut out Rochester, 2-0, on September 14.

Thursday semifinals:  Argos hosts Rochester at 5pm

Volleyball

Rochester (10-7) def Tippecanoe Valley (12-12)  22-25, 25-17, 27-25, 25-23

Winamac def Culver 25-11, 25-8, 25-10

Triton def Caston 25-17, 25-14, 25-22

Tennis

Rochester’s Grant McCarter advanced in the individual state singles tennis tournament with a 6-1, 6-0 win.

Top-ranked (1A) Argos handled North Miami, 11-0, in sectional quarterfinal play Monday.

Argos will now play Caston in one semifinal Wednesday.  The other semifinal at Argos will feature Winamac vs Culver Community.

At Fort Wayne Canterbury, Manchester defeated Rochester for the second time this season to end the Zebra's soccer season.  Machester advanced with a 5-3 edge in PK's following a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation and overtime.

Fort Wayne Canterbury defeated Culver Academy 1-0 Monday.

The pairings for the 27th Annual IHSAA Boys and Girls Soccer State Tournaments were drawn and announced with 299 boys teams and 266 girls teams set for competition.

Both tournaments mirror each other beginning with 16 sectionals in each of three classes running Oct. 5- 10.

Regionals will be played Saturday, Oct. 17, semistates are Saturday, Oct. 24 at four sites with the winners advancing to the state championship matches on Oct. 30-31.

Two of those championship matches will be played indoors on Friday (Oct. 30) at the Grand Park Sports Event Center in Westfield while the other four matches will be played outdoors on Saturday (Oct. 31) at Fishers High School.

Assignments will be made following the semi-state matches.

Boys soccer sectionals

At Fort Wayne Canterbury

Monday

Culver Academy vs FW Caterbury

Manchester vs Rochester

Manchester won the regular season meeting, 3-0, on September 8

Wednesday

FW Concordia Lutheran vs Tippecanoe Valley

Monday

#1 (1A) Argos vs North Miami                                       

The defending state champs looking for a 10^th straight sectional title

Winner plays Caston in a Wednesday semifinal

Wednesday semifinal

Winamac vs Culver Community

Girls sectionals

At LaVille

Tuesday

Culver Community vs #6 (1A) Argos

North Miami vs Rochester

Sept 23:  Rochester 3, North Miami 0

Thursday

LaVille vs Bremen

 Here are local teams of interest in Sunday night's volleyball sectional draw.

Class A

Sectional 50 @ Orgeon Davis

Culver Community draws Orgeon Davis in Match 2. Argos gets the bye.

Sectional 52 @ Pioneer

North Miami will play Caston in Match 2.

Class 2A 

Sectional 34 @ Boone Grove 

Winamac will play host Boone Groove

Sectional 35 @ Bremen

Rochester draws LaVille in Match 2 on Thursday, Oct. 15

Class 3A

Sectional 21 @ Tippecanoe Valley

Match 1 will be Jimtown vs Tippecanoe Valley

Sectional 24 @ Maconaquah

Peru will play Western in Match 3

Sectional week begins October 13.  Championship matches are scheduled for Saturday, October 17.

It will likely be a bittersweet feeling for Chuck Pagano Sunday when his Chicago Bears take on the Indianapolis Colts Sunday afternoon.

Pagano is now the Bears defensive coordinator, but he coached the Colts from 2012-2017 where he amassed a 53-43 record and won 3 playoff games. Pagano was fired after the 2017 season when the Colts went 4-12. Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia in 2012, but he overcame it. His prior health history makes him vulnerable to coronavirus, but he says he is staying safe and healthy.

“The way they got our facility set up (in Chicago), the way we social distance, the way we test, the way we meet, it’s not surprising that we haven’t had issues (with the coronavirus,” said Pagano in a Thursday Zoom call. “You still can’t get let your guard down. This stuff’s real. It’s out there. You got to be smart. You got to be safe.”

Pagano’s wife, Tina, still spends a lot of time in Indianapolis.

“We still got our place there. Our youngest daughter is still living there, so Tina is still spending a lot of time there. It’s been a while since we’ve gone out to eat. We have a lot of home-cooked stuff.”

He reflected on his first game as the coach of the Colts in 2012 where they played the Bears in the season opener and lost 41-21. Aside from the loss, Pagano said he really only remembered one moment that makes him laugh.

“Lovie Smith (Bears coach at the time) challenged something in the first quarter and then I reached into my back pocket. I didn’t feel anything. I thought, ‘Holy s***. I don’t have my red flag.,’ said Pagano.

The red flag is the flag you need to throw if you want to challenge a call on the field. Pagano had an equipment manager run back to the locker room and get the flag.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s matchup with the Colts, Pagano spoke highly of the Colts offensive line.

“It’s one of the best, if not the best units in the National Football League. They play so well together. They’re so well-coached. It’s going to be a heck of a challenge getting to the quarterback,” said Pagano.

Pagano said after all these years, Colts Quarterback Philip Rivers is still productive.

“There’s nothing that he hasn’t seen. He hangs in there. He slides, moves, and keeps his eyes down the field. You’d think at a certain point, they’d start feeling pressure and their eyes will start dropping and looking at the rush. He (Rivers) just doesn’t do that. As funky as that release of his looks, he’s so accurate,” said Pagano.

The Colts are 2-1 and have the #1 defense in the NFL. The Bears are 3-0. Colts general manager Chris Ballard worked in the Bears’ scouting department from 2001-12.

The Colts beat the Bears in Super Bowl 41 29-17.

Kickoff is at 1 pm Sunday.