YORKTOWN — They knew the task would be tough.
To win the Class 4A Sectional 9 volleyball tournament Saturday, the Mt. Vernon Marauders, ranked No. 12 (all classes) in the Indiana MaxPreps poll, would have to beat two other ranked teams.
Searching for their first sectional title since 2016, the Marauders got off to a great start, but fell short, losing to defending state champion and host Yorktown in the title match.
After beating No. 18 Pendleton Heights, 3-1, in a Saturday morning semifinal, the Marauders took the first set off the top-ranked Tigers before losing 3-1.
Mt. Vernon finished the season 24-7. All seven losses came against teams in the top 20, including two to Yorktown, the team it also finished runner-up to in the Hoosier Heritage Conference.
The Marauders were 5-7 against Top-25 teams and 9-7 against the Top 50.
It was another strong year for the program that has seven 20-plus wins seasons in the last eight, when Eric Bulmahn became head coach. They went 18-12 in the other season.
“We did it against a good schedule. It was a Top-10 schedule,” the coach said. “We weren’t concerned about the wins and losses. It was getting better every time so we were ready for the sectional.
“These girls have worked so hard. They are great students. They are very respectful to me and each other. They are such a class group.”
This year’s large and talented senior class of Cecilia Bulmahn, Rylee Ugen, Meredith Hohnbaum, Macy Lyons, Tatum Fitzgerald and Delaney Bowser have been part of four teams that have a combined record of 97-26.
“This senior group is special,” the coach added. “They fought so hard. I know it hurts a lot, because this group knew they were special. They grew together and got so much better.
They’re a real tight group. It’s a culture. There’s a lot of love between them.”
“My team, I love them to death,” Lyons said of her classmates, teammates and best friends. “They pushed me to my full potential.
“We’ve been playing together since seventh grade. They are my rocks. I think our bond off the court helped a lot on the court. We knew, no matter what happened, we’d be there and have each other at the end of the day.”
All six were big contributors on Saturday.
In the title match against Yorktown (28-3), which will face No. 25 Cathedral in one of two regional semifinal matchups on Saturday at Greenfield-Central High School, the Marauders lost by set scores of 25-27, 25-22, 25-18, 25-18.
Yorktown led the majority of the first set before a pair of service aces from junior libero Abby Herman helped tie the opening stanza at 20-20. Cecilia Bulmahn followed with three straight kills to give MV a 23-20 lead. She had another kill to help wrap things up. The Marauders also took advantage from a pair of Yorktown attack errors to close out the set.
Mt. Vernon battled in the second set, but after the Tigers broke a 4-4 tie, they led the rest of the way.
Bulmahn had kills to cut it to 16-15 and 17-16. A Bowser service ace cut the Yorktown lead to 20-19, but the Tigers followed with a 4-0 run, which ended on a solo block from Lyons.
The Lyons’ denial gave MV some momentum. She and Bulmahn followed with a combo block, then Lyons added a kill to cut it to 24-22. The Marauders staved off three set points before Yorktown ended it with a successful attack from middle hitter Camryn Isaacs.
“We came from behind the first set. Their coach (Stephanie Bloom) is a good coach. She took away the weakness we were attacking,” coach Bulmahn said. “She changed their serve receive and the other girls from Yorktown were passing perfect. We couldn’t break their serve receive”
The Marauders were hurt by a slow start in the third set. They trailed 11-3 in and were unable to get closer than three points the remainder of the set. A Bowser kill followed by a Lyons block and Yorktown attack error cut it to 20-17.
In the final set, Mt. Vernon scored the first four points. After a Yorktown service error, Bulmahn followed with a service ace. The next two points came on kills from Fitzgerald and Hohnbaum.
After Mt. Vernon’s initial 4-0 run, Yorktown scored the next seven points and never looked back.
“We came out strong against Yorktown,” Lyons said. “We studied. We did everything we could. They’re well-coached and smart and they switched it around and beat us at the end.”
Bulmahn and Lyons had 19 and 11 kills, respectively. Herman had three aces. Lyons was part of six blocks, including four solos. Five players had double figures in digs led by Bulmahn with 20. Bowser had 19, followed by Herman 18, Ugen 16 and defensive specialist Elizabeth Gee-Weiler 15. Ugen had 39 assists.
“We had a lot of great rallies,” coach Bulmahn added. “These girls played really tough. We made Yorktown change their entire game plan. They came out and started tipping because we were blocking them.
“They fought and I couldn’t be more proud of them. They never quit. They kept coming after them. I could start singling out people that had great matches, but there were too many.”
To get to the title match, Mt. Vernon beat Pendleton Heights 3-1. Set scores were 25-23, 25-16, 19-25, 25-11.
It was the Marauders second win of the season over the Arabians.
Pendleton Heights ended the year 30-4 with its only losses to Mt. Vernon (2), Yorktown and No. 2 Hamilton Southeastern.
“They came out (Saturday morning) and people were talking about Pendleton being a 30-win team,” coach Bulmahn said. “They’ve been playing very well. We came in and played amazing. We were focused. We did not make errors. Just getting pass them was all I was worrying about (coming into Saturday).”
The opening set had seven ties, the last at 18-18. Hohnbaum had kills for the Marauders 23rd and 24th points. An Arabian attack error ended the opening set.
MV led from start to finish in the second set, wrapping it up with a service ace from Gee-Weiler.
After the Arabians cut the match to 2-1 in sets, the Marauders dominated the fourth.
They scored the first five points. It started with kills from Bulmahn and Hohnbaum and included a Bulmahn block and two PH errors.
Up 14-7, MV went on an 8-0 run. Bulmahn, Hohnbaum and sophomore Sophia Damer had kills. Damer and Hohnbaum combined on a block.
A Fitzgerald kill got the Marauders to match point. It ended on an Arabian ball-handling error.
“Playing Pendleton helped set us up to play well against Yorktown,” Lyons said. “Pendleton is a wonderful team. They are well put together and they are smart. It just happened to fall into our hands.”
Against the Arabians, Bulmahn had 20 kills, followed by Fitzgerald with 11 and Hohnbaum with nine. Gee-Weiler had three aces. Bulmahn, Hohnbaum and Damer each had four blocks. Herman led in digs with 17. Bulmahn had 16. Gee-Weiler and Bowser each had 10. Ugen had 38 assists.
At G-C on Saturday, along with the Yorktown-Cathedral match, No. 5 Brownsburg takes on No. 6 Roncalli. Yorktown-Cathedral open at 10 a.m., with the second semifinal scheduled for noon. The title match is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
