For the second column in a row we are taking time away from the football season to take a look at volleyball.
Last time we looked at North Montgomery’s run to the State Finals at Ben Davis High School in 1977. This time we are looking back at Southmont’s 1985 volleyball team. No it did not make it to the State Finals, but it is the only Southmont volleyball team to win a regional title in the school’s history.
The Mounties were coached by Paula French, who had been a stellar player in her own right for the Mounties in the late 1970s, and was coming off a 27-6 record in 1994 when the team fell in the regional.
After starting 2-2 the Mounties got on a roll and rolled into the Greencastle Sectional as a heavy favorite as they were the defending champs. Oh, and they were riding a 20-match winning streak.
In the sectional opener North Putnam fell 15-3, 15-7 as senior Missi Meadows led the team in serving going 11-for-11 and senior Stephanie Williams was 5-of-6 hitting. The Mounties took care of Cloverdale in the semifinal round winning 15-6, 15-9.
In the sectional final, Greencastle made the Mounties work a bit harder before falling 15-13, 15-13. At one point in the second game the Mounties trailed 8-3 before a spirited timeout talk led to the Mounties going on a 12-5 run to close out the game and the match. The two seniors led the way as Williams served for six straight points and Meadows followed with five straight.
The sectional wins enabled the Mounties to break the school record for wins in a row as that mark had now reached 23 and the team stood 25-2 going into the West Vigo Regional.
The first-round regional opponent was Northview which had eliminated the Mounties from the regional the year before. This time the Mounties prevailed in a tough match, winning 15-3, 8-15, 15-4. That proved to be the hardest match of the day as the Mounties downed Owen Valley, who had never been to the regional before, 15-11, 15-6 in a match that lasted just 40 minutes.
Junior Missy Todd led the Mountie hitters in the championship match with a 12- for-13 effort which netted nine kills. Williams was also 12-for-13 hitting with four kills and Meadows was a perfect 8-for-8 with four kills. Williams was also 9-for-9 from the service line, while Kim Cravens was 8 for 8 and had two aces. Michelle Foxworthy was 12-for-13 serving with a team-high three aces.
The two wins in the regional allowed the team to tie the 27 wins it had recorded the year before and ran its winning streak to 25 straight.
The next stop was the Jasper Regional where the Mounties took on Donna Sullivan’s Seymour Owls who entered the semistate ranked No. 11 in the state.
The Mounties were never able to get untracked against the Owls and fell 15-1, 15-8 to end the season at 27-3. It was also the end of the careers of the team’s two lone seniors. Meadows and Williams helped the Mounties to a 70-23 record in three years along with two sectional titles and the school’s only regional title.
Barry Lewis has been involved in Montgomery County sports for nearly 50 years. He has a passion for keeping its rich history and tradition alive.
