FORTVILLE — The Mt. Vernon volleyball team isn’t known for backing down from a challenge.
Partly by circumstance, especially in the postseason, and primarily by design during the regular season, the Marauders often face the state’s best week-in and week-out, which fits perfectly with head coach Eric Bulmahn’s philosophy.
“We don’t give ourselves a lot of breaks,” said Bulmahn, who is entering his seventh season at Mt. Vernon. “Going to Cathedral this year, I know they’re looking for some revenge. I actually ran into their coach (Mary Hemer) at a beach tournament a couple of weeks ago. And she said, ‘Our girls are out to get you guys.’ She said, ‘You’re our first match, and we’re bringing it.’”
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Obviously, the trash talking was friendly, Bulmahn laughs, but it’s also a sign of respect for his program’s steady progression, particularly after the Marauders upended the eight-time state champion Fighting Irish the past two Augusts.
Once a playoff hurdle for the Marauders, Cathedral was the watermark every October after defeating Mt. Vernon at regional in both 2015 and 2016.
Now, the true test for Mt. Vernon is at sectional where several Hoosier Heritage Conference rivals such as Yorktown and defending Class 4A state champion New Castle roam.
New Castle — formerly 3A in 2018 — and Yorktown have combined to claim five state titles in the past four years, including both winning in 2018.
In three of the past five years, Mt. Vernon has fallen to the eventual state champion in the postseason.
“The past few years we’ve had really good teams, but we’ve been eliminated by the state champion. They just happen to be in our sectional now,” Bulmahn said. “We have to get over that and take it to them. We want to be THE team.”
To be the best, the Marauders have scheduled the best, and this year is no exception. They’ve added defending 2A state champion Heritage Christian on Aug. 20, which highlights an opening stretch that also involves Cathedral coming up this Monday.
“We have nine former state champions on our schedule,” Bulmahn said. “So, there’s not really a night to rest. We always relish the opportunity to play teams like that (and New Castle) because we seem to rise. That’s why we have to continue to get better. We’ve had some great teams that could have won state, but either sectional or regional, we meet the state champion.”
Since Bulmahn’s first season at the helm, the Marauders have amassed 24 or more wins four times and 29 at most in 2015 when they last won sectional.
In 2019, Mt. Vernon finished 27-5 overall and 5-2 in the HHC for third behind New Castle and Yorktown.
The Marauders will be without graduated senior setter Victoria Bulmahn, who is now playing at Valparaiso University with her older sister Jaclyn. Also gone this fall are standouts Rachel Pilkington (159 kills) and libero Sophie Schultz (431 digs), but the Marauders aren’t necessarily rebuilding.
All-HHC honoress Claire Ertel, a senior outside hitter, and junior outside hitter Cecilia Bulmahn lead a group of five key returners.
Ertel, a Florida Gulf Coast commit, registered 306 kills with a team-best 55 aces and 380 digs last year. Bulmahn posted 385 kills (44.9 percent) and 283 digs.
Senior Olivia Yeley is back after leading Mt. Vernon with 88 total blocks in 2019, while junior Delaney Bower returns to the back row and possibly at libero with junior Macy Lyons at middle blocker.
Junior Meredith Hohmbaum, a 6-foot-1 left-hander, will see a substantial increase in sets on the right side for the varsity squad this season, and junior Rylee Ugen is projected to takeover Victoria Bulmahn’s spot in the lineup.
Sophomore Abby Herman is vying for Schultz’s role at libero and will be part of Mt. Vernon’s back row with junior Lilly Cole and junior Libby Gee-Weiler.
“We have a strong group returning. We had a real strong group of seniors that have moved on. They had a lot of leadership skills. They had a lot of talent, but we had a lot of people that had playing time last year that will be back on the court this year,” Bulmahn said.
If there’s been any unexpected obstacle this preseason for the Marauders and their 2020 goals, it’s been the COVID-19 quarantine and the consequential limited summer conditioning.
Since schools reopened in July, Mt. Vernon has attempted to make up for lost time, but their work is truly never done.
“This year, we haven’t had time to train. The whole month of June, which is normally training time, we didn’t have. We couldn’t start until July 6, and it was every other day. So, we haven’t really had the time to train these girls a lot. Instead, you have to get them game ready,” Bulmahn said.
“You’ll see the teams that are more senior-laden will have some more advantages over others. They’re just fine-tuning the pieces and will have a better starting point. But, having some kids that have played for three or four years is definitely a luxury.”
Ertel competed with Circle City Volleyball Club this offseason. Cecelia Bulmahn and Bowser both played with The Academy Volleyball Club to elevate their games, but the team’s chemistry remains slightly behind schedule.
For now, at least.
“We definitely will lose a little consistency and will have more errors as the season starts, but we just hope we can correct those as the season moves on,” Bulmahn said. “I’m going to have to remind myself to be patient. I’m so competitive and hate to lose, and the girls are usually that way as well. So, I think we’ll have to concentrate on having poise and patience with each other.”
Once the HHC portion of their schedule opens on Aug. 27 at Pendleton Heights, however, the Marauders intend to be ready to make their push.
“The conference is the best in the state, hands down. Yorktown is always reloading. They lost almost five kids, but they just seem to reload every year. Greenfield-Central has a lot of kids back. They’re going to have a lot of seniors, so that’s going to give them an advantage,” Bulmahn said. “New Pal improved a lot, have a lot of young kids and good players, I don’t know how that’s going to come together. It’s going to be a tall order.”
Mt. Vernon opens the season at home against Greenwood on Saturday. The Marauders travel to Brebeuf Jesuit on Sept. 8 and Bellmont on Sept. 19 with HHC matches with New Castle on Sept. 17 and Yorktown on Sept. 10.
