Mt. Vernon’s Libby Gee-Weller (10) leans to return a Yorktown serve during their IHSAA Girls Volleyball Class 4A Sectional 9 semifinal Saturday at Yorktown High School.
By Brady Extin | Daily Reporter
YORKTOWN – You’d be hard-pressed to find a more difficult situation than the one Mt. Vernon was put in during Saturday morning’s IHSAA Girls Volleyball Class 4A Sectional 9 semifinals, held at Yorktown High School.
The Marauders were tasked with facing the hometown Yorktown Tigers, who entered the game ranked No. 2 in Class 4A and Ni, 2 in the state with a 27-2 record. They finished the Hoosier Heritage Conference season 7-0, and had only lost two sets since Sept. 6.
In a similar fashion to the regular season matchup between the two teams, the Marauders fell in straight sets, 25-7, 25-9, 25-16.
“We just talked all week about how we needed to minimize errors and keep the ball in play,” Mt. Vernon head coach Samantha Grider said. “Even when they made big plays, because we knew they were going to, we needed to just stay in the game.”
Grider was right.
Big plays paved the way for the Tigers right from the beginning of the opening set. Kills on three of their first four points put Mt. Vernon in a tough spot early, and the Yorktown attack never let up. The Tigers finished the set with 14 kills and three aces en route to the 25-7 win.
In the second set, it was trouble receiving the Yorktown serve that made things difficult for the Marauders. Four of the Tigers’ first seven points came on aces, and they finished the set with a total of six.
A bright spot for the Marauders on the day was the fight they showed in the third set. Down 2-0, they were able to grab their first lead of the day, and eventually found themselves up 8-5 behind points from juniors Easton Wampler and Sophia Damer, senior Elizabeth Gee-Weiler and freshman Sierra Holverson.
But after a kill by Yorktown’s Emilee Hill got the Tigers the serve back, they were in control the rest of the way.
“Set three definitely looked good, but we’re young,” Grider said. “When you make one error, they think it’s the end of the world, so we let them come back on a big run.”
Yorktown reeled off six straight points and never looked back on its way to the 25-16 win and three-set sweep.
Wampler led Mt. Vernon with three kills, while Holverson led the way serving with two aces. Gee-Weiler had 15 digs.
Mt. Vernon closed out the season with a 12-21 record, and finished 2-5 and in sixth place in the HHC.
“We definitely got better as the year went on. A lot of my underclassmen are going to play travel ball, so that will help a lot going into next season,” Grider said. “With only losing three seniors, that’s very positive for us, too, for next season.”
