Prep Volleyball- Conference volleyball is back as rivalries were renewed last night for the Southeast Conference (SEC), aptly, two five-set thrillers were the result and a couple of home openers were spoiled.
Mt. Pleasant vs Keokuk
The Panthers have dominated this series, including an 8-game win streak starting in 2020, but Keokuk claims the latest win, a 3-1 final in the first round of postseason action last season.
That momentum from a season ago carried its way into the first set. Despite Mt. Pleasant scoring the first point of the match, Keokuk had control for most of the set in large part due to miscues by the Panther offense and Camryn Atterberg of the Chiefs.
The first set was locked at 15, then Keokuk took a 20-17 lead. Mt. Pleasant responded by tying the game at 20, but the Chiefs again rattled off a short run to take set one 25-22. Three points was the largest lead of the set.
Atterberg was a force at the net for the Chiefs with five kills in the first set, while Addison Clark for Mt. Pleasant tallied five kills of her own in the first set. Nevertheless, the Chiefs won at the service line with a 3 to 1 advantage in the first set, a Panther strength.
The second set was pure domination by Atterberg and Kendra Boatman. The duo took advantage of Mt. Pleasant mistakes, and the addition of Neveah Logan and Gracie Thompson at the front of the net caused most of Mt. Pleasant’s attacks to sail wide.
The Chiefs sprinted to a 12 to 4 lead in the second set and never looked back with a final 10 to 4 run to end the second set in their favor 25-12 as Atterberg added four more kills to her total.
The tide began to change in the third set as Mt. Pleasant captured their largest lead of the night through the first 17 points, 11-6. However, Keokuk would not go down without a fight as they tied the game at 14.
Alex Scott finally caught fire as the Panthers rallied away with the third set, outscoring the Chiefs 11 to 2 down the stretch. Myah Starr entered for an injured Kynlee White in the set and captured a couple of aces from the service line as Mt. Pleasant was finding success.
Keokuk appeared poised to end the game early though as they scored the first four points of the fourth set. But similar to the first set, the two teams traded blows until Mt. Pleasant scurried away with a 20-14 lead as White returned to capture a couple kills.
An Atterberg kill gave the Chiefs the serve and with Atterberg back at the service line, Mt. Pleasant was caught in a tough rotation. Atterberg tallied a couple of aces and continued to serve the Panthers out of rotation as the Chiefs went on a 9 to 0 run, leading 23 to 20.
The late surge proved to not be enough as the Panthers managed to reclaim the lead and the set 25-23 with an Addison Peck ace, having officially battled back from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth set.
Mt. Pleasant head coach Logan Wall discussed what went into the comeback for her squad,
“I think we just capitalized on some of the open spots on the other court. #7 had a great game, so we were we were trying to avoid her as much as possible. So, we’ll know that for next time. I know my girls showed a lot of grit and a lot of toughness and I haven’t seen that in Panther volleyball for a long time. So, I’m just proud how they came back.”
Unfortunately, the effort exerted in the third and fourth sets left Mt. Pleasant drained as the Chiefs rattled away with the fifth set handily, 15-4. Mt. Pleasant is now 2-5 (0-1) on the season, while Keokuk improved to 1-4 (1-0).
Coach Wall talked about what the Panthers are going to work on heading into their matchup against Albia tomorrow, September 5th, at home,
“We were working on serving a lot. I thought our passing was pretty decent. Now we just got to put, put it all together at the net and finish strong. We had a lot of errors at the net, so we got to work on some hitting and some blocking and some coverage, but you work on one thing and then something falls off, so it’s hard. It’s hard to balance.”
Keokuk will host Central Lee tomorrow.
Keokuk Stat Leaders
Kills: Camryn Atterberg 17
Assists: Kendra Boatman 26
Blocks: Atterberg 7 (six solo)
Aces: Atterberg and Boatman 3
Mt. Pleasant Stat Leaders
Kills: Alex Scott 14, Addison Clark 10, Kynlee White and Paityn Ensminger 6
Assists: Abby Carthey 22
Blocks: Ensminger 2 (1 solo)
Aces: Sonya Simon 5, Myah Starr 2, Addison Peck 2, Scott 2
Burlington vs Fairfield
The Grayhounds and Trojans had their own five set thriller. Fairfield took the first set 25-23, but Burlington prevailed in the second and third set without much of an issue, winning 25-14 and 25-17.
The Trojans woke back up in the fourth set with a 25-20 set win, forcing a final 15-point set. Again, the team to force the fifth set was the one to turn up short as Burlington won 15-10 to win the match 3-2.
Fairfield moved to 1-6 (0-1), while Burlington improved to 6-4 (1-0) for the season. The Trojans will ravel to compete in the WACO quad tomorrow, while Burlington will participate in a tournament at Muscatine on Saturday, September 7th.
Fairfield Stat Leaders
Kills: Lilly Bergren 13, Claire Thompson 10
Assists: Faith Jones 28
Blocks: Jaden Haynes 4
Aces: Jones 4, Iris Lane 3
Burlington Stat Leaders
Kills: Annalise Buxton 17, Daphne Brown 13, Sydney Schroeder 10
Assists: Sela Rascon 39
Blocks: Brown 6 (3 solo)
Aces: Meliah Ertz 5, Schroeder 3
Washington vs Fort Madison
Another case of a road team causing havoc for a home opener. Washington dismantled Fort Madison 25-11, 25-23, and 25-15 in straight sets to pick up their sixth consecutive victory over the Bloodhounds.
Fort Madison falls to 0-8 (0-1), while Washington is at 0.500 for the season at 3-3 (1-0). The Bloodhounds will compete in a tournament at Midland on Saturday. The Demons will take on Mediapolis tomorrow at home.
Washington Stat Leaders
Kills: Leighton Messinger 12
Assists: Lauren Hinrichsen 24
Blocks: Jade Sheetz, Hinrichsen, Ella Greiner, and Layla Green each had a block assist
Aces: Taylor Miksch, Ellie Farmer, Hinrichsen, and Greiner each had 2 aces, Ruby Withoft 1
