No. 8 Mount Vernon won two matches and lost one at the WaMaC Tournament on Thursday, Oct. 16, in Solon.
But the Mustangs didn’t feel good about it, and didn’t want to talk about it afterwards.
Mount Vernon (20-15) beat Benton Community 25-23, 27-25, then lost to top-ranked (4A) Clear Creek Amana 25-22, 25-13, and finished the day with a win over Williamsburg, 25-23, 25-23.
“We sure can play with anyone,” Mount Vernon coach Maggie Willems said a few days after. “It’s about staying present in the moment longer, and not getting stuck looking forward or backward. We can take a shot at the best of teams.”
Benton (11-24) was trying for an upset, too, and thought they had a good start when they went ahead 22-20 in the first set.
Both teams left the court and the gym, thinking the first set was complete. Most tournament games are played to 21. But not this one.
The Mustangs came back into the gym, took the court again, and got a kill from Cali Whitaker and one from setter Madison Hoffert, and two attack errors and a serving error by the Bobcats, to rally and win the set.
“Thinking we played to 21 and then finding out, nope, we don’t,” Willems said. “We had a chance to come back in and get set 1 was great. A crazy test and we responded well.”
In the second set, the Mustangs got behind early, 14-7. Willems subbed out a couple of the top attackers, and Mount Vernon rallied with a few reserves, notably, sophomore Madelyn Paulus.
They tied it up 21-21 on a kill from senior Madeline Boran and eventually closed it out with a kill by Whitaker and an ace serve by Paulus.
“Maddy Paulus is really versatile,” Willems said. “She stepped in when a starter had to leave and was dynamite.”
The regulars returned against CCA (39-3). Mount Vernon built an early lead, 13-11. And the first set was tied 17-17 before the Clippers took control. CCA senior Averie Lower had three kills down the final stretch.
Sophia Meester led the Mustangs with eight kills against the Clippers. Whitaker added four.
The Clippers would go on to beat No. 9 (3A) West Delaware in the semifinals 25-19, 25-15, and top No. 8 (4A) Solon in the championship 25-18, 21-25, 15-13.
Losing in the quarterfinals, Mount Vernon thought its day might be over, but instead of getting on the bus, the Mustangs got back on the court to play a consolation game against the Raiders (20-9).
Tied 23-23, Mount Vernon closed out the first set with a Whitaker kill and a Raider attack error.
The Mustangs were trailing in the second set, 22-21, when they got kills from Lilly Cook, Witaker, Meester and Whitaker, again, to win 25-23.
Whitaker led the team with 10 kills against Williamsburg. Meester added eight kills.
“WaMaC is always such a tough conference tournament,” Willems said.
Mount Vernon, the defending 3A champs, opened regional play this week. They started with Alburnett (4-19) on Tuesday, Oct. 21, and if they won that, play either Tipton (23-5) or North Fayette Valley (19-7) on Thursday, Oct. 23, in Mount Vernon.
The regional final is Tuesday, Oct. 28, likely against West Delaware. The Mustangs beat the Hawks in five sets back on Sept. 16.