Mt. Pleasant, IA- Though it was a night dedicated to the seniors, it was freshman Peyton Duplessis that grabbed the spotlight for Mt. Pleasant in a four-set victory (25-12, 25-14, 24-26, and 25-20) over Fort Madison to improve to 2-1 in Southeast Conference (SEC) play.
It was a night of runs for Mt. Pleasant. The first run occurred after a four-all tie in the first set, as the Panthers secured 11 of the next 15 points and cruised to a win in the first set, 25-12. A big reason for their success was Duplessis, who tallied six kills, two aces, and a couple assists in the first set. For Mt. Pleasant head coach Alicia Schrader, it was nice to see the freshman show off one of her other skills on the court,
“Yeah, she’s a very fun player. [Duplessis] Able to really do anything and she’s so controlled. A great setter and people don’t know it sometimes that she’s also an amazing hitter, which is why we do what we do and why we have a 6-2 because I have two setters that can set the ball and we have two great hitters. So, we definitely want to use them in both places.”
The second set started the same way for Mt. Pleasant, as Duplessis and junior Abigail Shelangoski swapped spots with Duplessis teeing up Shelangoski for six kills in the set. The result was an 11 to 3 run to start the set.
However, Fort Madison would not go away easily, as they touted their own talented freshman in Kairringhtuhn Donald and junior Lyla Smith fighting back to make it a Mt. Pleasant 13 to 10 lead before coach Schrader used her first timeout. The response was a 12 to 4 run for the Panthers and a 25-14 set two win for the Maroon and Gold.
They’re growing every, I mean every day,” said coach Scharder. “Our last weekend was really good, we played a lot of good teams. I knew that we were ready to come out and play tonight. Our only bad habit is we get kind of lulled to sleep, like we’ll be dominating and then we get bored and then we, or whatever. You know, we let up and then it takes us a while to stay focused and intense and finish and we found that in the weekend too. So, it’s just something we’re young and working through and hopefully all these games are teaching us more and more.”
That boredom enveloped the third set. A 5 to 0 run for Fort Madison gave the Bloodhounds a six point advantage for most of the third set, as Kylie Lumino, who entered the night with 14 aces, caught fire from the service line, ending the night with four.
(Mt. Pleasant’s Hailey Schadt with an attack during the third set)
Despite the 19 to 13 lead for the Bloodhounds, Mt. Pleasant managed to claw their way back into the set and even tied it at 24-all. Yet, Fort Madison put the finishing touches on the set to win 26-24 and force a fourth set.
They even carried that momentum into the fourth set, leading 13 to 6 at one point. Nevertheless, the senior trio of Jenna Schwartz, who ended the night with seven kills and three blocks, Breana White, who logged five kills, and Paige Newton, the libero, provided the necessary push to get the set back to tied at 17-all. Coach Schrader discussed her three seniors after the game,
“Oh, man. They are such a fun group. Great teammates. Great leaders. Jenna [Schwartz] has been so fun. I mean, I think she has improved so much from last year. I mean, they are all a huge part of our team, obviously. But, Jenna is hard to stop in the middle and her blocking is huge. Paige’s [Newton] serve-receive is so money. And, then Bre [White] is obviously a great outside hitter. And, her control tonight was really, really fun to see. She is really coming along on her off-speed shots. And, it was fun to see tonight.”
(Collection of pictures of the three Panther seniors)
Mt. Pleasant would go on to score eight of the last eleven points to win the set, 25-20. Duplessis led the Panthers with 13 kills and six aces and even had a pair of blocks. Shelangoski added seven kills, while Hailey Schadt nabbed four kills and two aces.
Always looking for an area to improve, coach Schrader would like to see her young finish a game as aggressively as they start,
“I think a lot of it is intensity. A lot of it is a mental game. I think that is really probably our biggest holdup is mental. You know, I feel like we probably missed a lot of match point serves. All of that is being young and inexperienced and lacking confidence. So, we’re just working on that. I think being able to finish and be confident in ourselves and not take it easy just to be safe at the end.”
The Panthers improve to 7-8 on the season and sit one game behind Washington and Burlington in the conference standing, while the Bloodhounds fall to 7-8 and 1-2 in the SEC.
Mt. Pleasant will travel to to Ottumwa for a tournament on Saturday, September 19th.
Mt. Pleasant Kills: Peyton Duplessis 13, Abigail Shelangoski and Jenna Schwartz 7, Breana White 5, Hailey Schadt 4, and Kya Heaton 3