It has all been leading to this.
Mount Vernon, the season-long No. 1 team in 3A, is returning to the state tournament after finishing runner-up in Xtream Arena a year ago.
“We ended up short,” senior Chloe Meester said. “We weren’t fully ready. We’d never been in the championship match before.
“We’ll be ready this year.”
The team that beat them, Western Christian, is back. The Wolfpack got them 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18, in 2023.
“It has been so motivating,” senior Sydney Huber said of the loss. “I think it is always in the back of everyone’s mind, in practice, in team meetings.
“I think it really drives everyone to put 100 percent into every practice and every game.”
Mount Vernon coach Maggie Willems has heard it. A lot. The Mustangs made the quarterfinals in 2021, the semifinals in 2022, and were runner-up in 2023. So … natural progression is …?
“A lot of people love that narrative,” said Willems, whose teams have made it to state seven straight seasons, and in 12 of her 14 years in charge. “That’s a good story.
“But the actual gift we have is we know how to manage the state tournament. We’ve been there a lot. It is a very overstimulating environment and really demanding.”
The Mustangs have the advantage of being able to sleep in their own beds.
“We are thrilled that we are not in a hotel,” Willems said.
Mount Vernon has won 42 matches this season, with 4 losses. Two losses were at an out-of-state tournament to out-of-state teams.
They also dropped a match to the top seed in Class 5A, Pleasant Valley, and the No. 4 seed in 2A, Dike-New Hartford.
They have no losses to 3A teams. Their latest win was a 25-13, 25-16, 25-22, sweep of Nevada in a 3A regional final Tuesday, Oct. 29, in Mount Vernon.
It was a chance for the Mustangs to enjoy a final match on their home court.
“Because a lot of our team is made up of seniors, we talked about this being the last-ever game in our home gym,” Huber said. “That was inspiring. The underclassmen who play with us know how much that means to us.
“I think we all came together as a team, and we found joy in playing with each other.”
Nevada (30-12) tried playing ball control, but, aside from junior Rachel Borwick, who had a match-high 17 kills, couldn’t keep up with the big hitters for the Mustangs.
Chloe Meester had 15 kills, senior Sydney Maue had eight kills, sophomore Sophia Meester had six kills, and senior Paig Schurbon had five. Huber had 34 assists.
“We had times where we played great, and other times where we didn’t play our best,” Schurbon said. “But we just had to push through.”
In the first set, Mount Vernon led 10-8 and reeled off a 9-0 run. The Mustangs got out to an 11-2 lead in the second set.
“We were prepared for them and we were ready to go,” Willems said. “We knew if we came out strong, specifically with our serving and passing, that we would get in-system swings and get control of the match early on. And we were able to do that.”
The Cubs trailed by six, 20-14, after a Isabelle Logue ace, and 23-17, after a Chloe Meester kill. But they did force Willems to use her only time out by cutting the lead to three, 23-20.
“If you don’t have a lot of big swingers, then you have to out-IQ people,” Willems said. “They tried their best to do that.”
“But we really did match that. Our goal was to play fearless, to go out and trust ourselves.”
The Mustangs were scheduled to open up state tournament play Tuesday, Nov. 5, with No. 8 Mid-Prairie (33-8).
Win that, and the semifinal would be Wednesday afternoon against either No. 4 Dubuque Wahlert (25-8) or No. 5 Carroll Kuemper (37-3). The championship is at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7.
The other side of the bracket includes No. 2 Western Christian (31-13), plus No. 7 Sioux Center (29-5), No. 3 West Delaware (38-6) and No. 6 Davenport Assumption (25-8).
If it ends up being the Wolfpack, the Mustangs are ready.
“Personally, I think I kind of would (like it to be them),” Meester said. “Just kind of like, redemption, and stuff like that. But if we don’t, that’s okay, too.”