NEW MARKET - Southmont’s volleyball team got caught by the schedule, as they dropped a 3-0 Sagamore Conference match to Danville.
Coming off a tough and emotional match against Crawfordsville only 24 hours earlier, the Mounties gave a good account of things, but were just that little bit short as they fall to 8-10 overall and finish their conference campaign at 2-5.
“We expended so much emotion last night,” South coach Erin Barry said, “that it was just tough to get back to that level in less than a day. Then, we fell behind early, and you could just feel the energy level drop a little more.”
The 16-25, 13-25, 25-27 loss to the Warriors, who move to 15-8 overall and 2-2 in the Sagamore, was a good late-season test, according to the coach.
“I told the girls to keep their energy up,” Barry said. “They need to go out and execute the game plan, communicate well on the floor and get serves in. We’ve only got two weeks left in the season, and it’s time to start getting ready for sectionals.”
The Warriors had their own demons to deal with.
“We found out today that we were short two starters tonight,” Danville coach Danielle Shepherd said. “We had to move some people around literally at the last minute.”
Shepherd, who also had dental work done during the day and was feeling the effects of her pain-killers, moved their setter to the front line and that moved paid big dividends. They spent most of their warmup time going through rotations.
“We moved Sofia Windmiller to the front row,” Shepherd said. “She is just a really good all-around player, with a lot of flexibility in positions. She helps lead the team in many ways, and she came up big.”
The sophomore had a handful of kills, digs and assists to solidify the front.
Calla Herald led the Warriors with 10 kills to move her to 163 on the season.
The first set was close until Danville’s 6-1 run closed out the set. The second set was all Warriors, as they jumped out 8-0 and closed 6-0.
The third set got all the way to technical overtime, as the Mounties fought off a couple match points to keep the set going.
Chelsea Veatch, who led South with 10 kills, had four of them in that third set and added two of her three service aces.
South led 13-10 before a Warriors 4-0 run put them back in front.
The lead would change hands three more times and the score was tied seven times in the last half of that third set, but the visitors got back-to-back kills by Herald to finish the night.
“I am really pleased with how the girls responded today,” Shepherd said. “They looked nervous in warmups because of all the unknowns, but the girls on the floor showed a lot of leadership, and through good communication on the floor, it got us a win.”
The Mounties got nine kills from Regan Remley, as she and Veatch both passed the 100-kills mark for the season. Veatch had 12 digs, and Tayler Anderson had 17.
Mallory Mason had 20 assists, while Dara Watson and Cheyenne Shaw each had two blocks.
“I’m glad we are done with the conference season,” Barry noted. “It will give us these last games to play some of our sectional teams and other 2A teams. We are looking forward to the playoffs.”
The Warriors have three Sagamore matches left in their last five, starting with a back-to-back of their own as they have Lebanon coming in Thursday.
“We have to focus on our service receiving,” Shepherd said. “That has to lead to a good pass and a good hit. We made a lot of adjustments and came out with a win tonight - we will have to see what happens tomorrow. We had one starter out sick and one in concussion protocol, so we will see who is available.”
The Mounties are idle until next Monday, when they will play host to South Vermillion.
