COVINGTON — How the tide can change quickly in just a few points. In Thursday’s volleyball matchup against 4-0 Covington, Southmont had the home Trojans down 24-22 needing just a single point to capture the set. What resulted was the Trojans coming away with a thrilling 28-26 set one win and that sucked most of the life out of the visiting Mounties as they were swept by Covington in three sets 26-28, 14-25, 20-25.
Southmont (3-5), showed signs of life again late in the third set and battled back to make the Trojans sweat, but the home team hung on and prevented any late Mountie rally.
“The whole momentum shifted over to their side after that first set,” Southmont coach Erin Barry said. “I think if we won that first set, then tonight might have been a different outcome. I do keep preaching to these girls that it’s early and for us to play a good seasoned team like Covington who hasn’t lost yet this year is very encouraging for us moving forward. I’m happy with our girls effort to play this well against a good team on the road.”
Digs were a plenty for the Mountie defense who did their very best to try and thwart the Trojan attack.
LIbero Jenna Grino paced the way with 27 digs with Catie Himes adding 19. Kendall Priebe chipped in 15 while DeLorean Mason ended her night with 14 digs. Mallory Mason rounded out the defensive effort with 10 of her own. Offensively in the kills department DeLorean had 11 to lead the way while Himes chipped in six. Mallory Mason set the table for the offense as usual with 23 assists.
“Our defense played stellar tonight,” Barry said of her team. “Offensively at the net we made too many hitting errors at the wrong times and it cost us. Some night are like that though. We’ll learn from this as we always do and get ready for next week.”
What lies ahead next for the Mounties is a big first step in terms of a county title as they’ll make the short trip North to the opposite end of Montgomery County on Tuesday when they take on their county rival in the North Montgomery Chargers. The Mounties are hoping for a little revenge after the Chargers bested them last weekend at the North Putnam Invite.
“It’s going to be a good and fun match,” Barry said of the county game. “Hopefully our girls come ready to play from the get go like they did tonight. That’s what it’s going to take in a county rivalry especially when we’re at their place.”
