Inch for inch, West Delaware’s Alivia Schulte packs quite a punch

MOUNT VERNON — No, Alivia Schulte insists. She has never had her vertical jump measured.

When and if it happens, she would put up an impressive number.

Schulte played far above her 5-foot-8 stature, putting down 23 kills as Class 3A top-ranked West Delaware outslugged No. 7 Mount Vernon in a four-set Wamac Conference East Division volleyball match Tuesday night at Mount Vernon High School.

Scores were 25-22, 19-25, 25-17 and 25-22.

“No bigger than she is ... to do what she does,” Hawks Coach Brett Mather said, shaking his head and not bothering to complete the sentence.

He didn’t need to.

“We passed well, and that means we’re in system,” Mather continued. “When we’re in system, they have to respect our middles and Alivia gets some one-on-ones.”

And when they came, Schulte capitalized.

“We got some good passes, some good sets. And I really felt like I was on,” she said. “We’ve had some really good practices, and everybody was pushing more than ever before.”

The victory kept the Hawks (29-3, 3-1 division) in the Wamac East race. They can earn a title share if they win at Dyersville Beckman next Tuesday.

When you think of West Delaware, you think of tempo. But you can’t run tempo if you can’t pass, and in the third and fourth sets, the Hawks passed extremely well.

“Defensively, they outplayed us, both at the net and on the floor,” Mount Vernon Coach Maggie Willems said.

And that led to a 36-22 kill advantage in the final two sets, with Schulte collecting 13 of them.

“She’s definitely our go-to hitter,” said West Delaware setter Carlee Smith, who distributed 54 assists. “We know she’s going to come through for us. She knows where to put the ball.”

Allie Demmer added 10 kills for the Hawks, Brooke Krogmann nine, Kayla Felton eight.

Freshman Chloe Meester paced the Mustangs (18-9, 2-2) with 21 kills.

“She’s insanely good,” Smith said. “She’s smart, she’s talented. We had to account for her with our digs.”

Brooke Ellyson added 11 kills; Madeleine Miller counted 41 assists.

WEST DELAWARE 3, MOUNT VERNON 1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-17, 25-22)

At Mount Vernon

Serving: West Delaware 85-93 (.914), Mount Vernon 82-86 (.953)

Aces: West Delaware 7 (Alivia Schulte 4), Mount Vernon 3 (Jaden Rolland 2)

Kills: West Delaware 58 (Schulte 23), Mount Vernon 48 (Chloe Meester 21)

Assists: West Delaware 57 (Carlee Smith 54), Mount Vernon 48 (Madeleine Miller 41)

Blocks: West Delaware 4 (four with 1), Mount Vernon 7 (Miller 3)

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com