Mount Vernon overcomes slow start with defense

CEDAR RAPIDS - Trailing 1-0 overall and headed to the second set of its Class 3A semifinal against Red Oak, the Mount Vernon volleyball team needed a boost.

The No. 1 Mustangs got it in the form of their defense, which turned away attempt after attempt at kills by the Tigers. They rallied from down 1-0 to a four-set victory, 23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-15 and a date with Wamac Conference rival Solon in the final.

'I think the first game we were a little bit jittery,” said Mount Vernon Coach Maggie Willems. 'Once we settled down and played like we typically do with a great back court and better communication, we were able to be successful.

'I think that made all the difference. When we started to gain some momentum there in that Game 3, it was probably pretty frustrating to be across the net from us because we weren't letting anything drop.”

The Mustangs held the Tigers to 0.163 hitting percentage throughout the match, and as Willems said, turned up the wick defensively in Set 3 and 4. Red Oak hit 0.180 in Set 3 and 0.059 in Set 4.

Willems was candid when asked what led to the slow start. Red Oak's start caught Mount Vernon a little off guard, but a simple message in between sets was all it took to right the ship.

'Credit Red Oak. They served so aggressively and we froze,” Willems said. 'It was nothing special. I said, ‘Girls, we've been great passers all year. I know you're great passers. I'm confident in you, we're going to do this. Relax and pass the ball.'”

From the players' perspective, that's all the reminder the players needed.

They knew they were better than the first set, and figured it out pretty quickly. The motivation was as much from the simple message given by their coach as it was from within. In addition to the defensive improvement, the Mustangs' offense jumped up as well, going from a 0.250 clip in Set 1 to 0.345 in Set 2.

'We said to ourselves, ‘This isn't happening.' We came back out and said ‘We have to go right now; we have to play our game.' That first game, we didn't play like we knew we could've,” said sophomore middle hitter Kaitlyn Volesky, who led the Mustangs with 18 kills. 'I don't think any of us actually were (nervous). We just knew we didn't play as well as we could've. If we just played our game, there was no reason to be nervous.”

Being able to respond as quickly and emphatically as they did said a lot to both the coaches and players, as well.

'That just to me means we have great tenacity,” Volesky said. 'We play together, we believe in each other and as long as we do that, we can come back from anything.”

Now it's on to the Highway 1 rivalry, and a date with the Spartans in the final on Friday at 2:30 p.m.

Both teams know each other as well as two teams can, having split the two times they played in the regular season.

Everyone involved described the rivalry as 'friendly,” but that doesn't mean there will be anything friendly about what happens at center court on Friday. Preparation for their biggest match they've played against one another started as soon the Mustangs broke the celebratory huddle on Thursday, Willems said.

'The one thing is we know a lot about each other. It's not like it's an opponent we don't know,” Willems said. 'Immediately after the game's over, you enjoy it for about 15 minutes, then you figure out how to win the next one.

'We're really excited to play Solon. It's been a real benefit to us to be in this Wamac Conference all year. I think it'll be fun to have this third and deciding game, and it's fun to have a rival in the state championship game. You don't get that opportunity very often.”

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