Mount Vernon makes it 4 in a row in the Wamac volleyball tournament

MOUNT VERNON — This conference is so deep, every year.

Win it, and you earn the right to celebrate. That’s an accomplishment.

Win it four straight years, and ... well, that’s kind of hard to wrap your mind around.

That’s where the Mount Vernon Mustangs are these days.

“It’s a testament to the kids’ commitment,” Coach Maggie Willems said. “The commitment to get good enough to win this tournament.”

Ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, Mount Vernon got valuable complements to hard-hitting sophomore Chloe Meester, and outlasted 4A No. 3 Marion, 26-24, 24-26, 15-8, for the Wamac Conference tournament championship Thursday night at Mount Vernon High School.

“I trust every one of our hitters,” setter Madeleine Miller said. “We’re at our best when everybody is going well.”

Brooke Ellyson had three kills in a defining 5-1 run that put the Mustangs (31-5) in front for good, 7-4, in Game 3. Emma Meester, Chloe’s senior sister, had some big moments earlier in the match.

Then it was Chloe at closing time, pounding three kills in the final four-point run.

“She has such a high swing,” Miller said.

And very few players in the state with the same trajectory, the same velocity or the same ferocity.

Mount Vernon has won this tournament as an underdog before (see, 2019, when it was 2-3 in divisional play). This year, the Mustangs did it as the favorite.

They swept Benton Community in the quarterfinals and West Delaware in the semifinals.

Marion (33-6) was similarly sharp, ousting Vinton-Shellsburg and Clear Creek Amana in the first two rounds.

The Wolves scored six straight points for a 23-22 lead in the first set, but two of Mount Vernon’s final four points came on Marion errors.

“We couldn’t finish that first set,” Marion Coach Roxanne Paulsen said. “Same dog-gone thing as our match last week.”

Mount Vernon had match point at 24-23 in the second set, but a kill by Peyton Johnson, an ace by Emily Dooley and a block by Avery Van Hook forced Game 3.

There, as always, it was “every ball for each other,” according to Ellyson. “We have such high confidence in each other. I have nothing negative to say about this team. It’s all positive energy.”

Both teams start regional play next week, and both intend to play into November in Coralville.

One puzzle looms for the 3A field. How do you stop Chloe Meester?

“You try to side her out. That’s the best you can do,” Paulsen said. “You get her to the back row, and you try to score then.

“But the rest of their players are good players, too. And Miller does a good job spreading it around.”

Wamac Conference Volleyball Tournament

AT MOUNT VERNON

First Round

Benton Community def. Independence, 25-13, 25-19

West Delaware def. South Tama, 25-10, 25-19

Solon def. Williamsburg, 25-12, 25-13

Quarterfinals

Mount Vernon def. Benton Community, 25-13, 25-9

West Delaware def. Center Point-Urbana, 25-19, 25-21

Clear Creek Amana def. Solon, 25-23, 23-25, 15-9

Marion def. Vinton-Shellsburg, 25-16, 25-8

Semifinals

Mount Vernon def. West Delaware, 25-16, 25-10

Marion def. Clear Creek Amana, 25-20, 25-19

Championship

Mount Vernon def. Marion, 26-24, 24-26, 15-8

Consolation Matches

Independence def. South Tama, 25-17, 25-23

Williamsburg def. Independence, 25-18, 22-25, 16-14

Solon def. Vinton-Shellsburg, 26-28, 25-20, 15-13

Benton Community def. Center Point-Urbana, 25-16, 25-19

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com