Lexi Nelson returns a ball in the Mounties 3-0 win at North Montgomery on Tuesday.
North Montgomery's Gracie Chapman keeps her eyes on the ball in the Charger's loss to Southmont on Tuesday.
LINDEN — Southmont left little doubt as to who the team to beat in Montgomery County was Tuesday evening in a 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-9) win at North Montgomery in volleyball.
The Indiana Prep Volleyball Z-Rankings Class 2A No. 4 Mounties won for the first time at North since 2011, and earned Southmont a pair of Journal Review County Chase points.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to get a win here at North,” Mountie’s coach, and North Montgomery grad Lauran Nichols said. “It’s a hard place to play, and it is a big rivalry. To be able to come in here and stay focused at the goal at hand and not get overwhelmed by the big county matchup it was great for us.”
The Chargers (2-9, 0-3) battled with the Mounties in the first set, but were unable to string enough points together to apply much pressure.
“It was sloppy out of the gate,” Charger’s coach Jodi Webster said. “And then we had some runs with them, and then we would mount errors and those errors would get the best of us. Where are we with breaking through those gates? We are right there, but they’ve got to realize they can do it, and they can.”
Haley Burton led the Chargers with five digs, while Gracie Chapman had four assists.
Lexi Nelson had 16 kills for Southmont, while Kaley Remley had 10 kills, eight digs, and five aces. Natalie Manion had 11 digs, while Sidney Veatch had 32 assists, four digs, and four kills.
Southmont is off to an 8-0 start on the season, and Nichols is reminding her team to not get overconfident.
“I told the girls how they’ve gotten to where they are now,” she said. “And they said hard work, and I said perfect, because now you have to work even harder to maintain that success and keep getting those wins.”
Southmont hosts Cascade on Thursday.
North Montgomery is off until next Tuesday when they travel to Fountain Central. Despite the 2-9 start, Webster is staying encouraged by the improved play from her young team.
“This whole thing is a journey,” she said. “And it’s not defined by one game, or three or four games. It’s determined by what happens at the end of this whole entire battle, and that’s in October. And if we can continue to develop over this time, they’re going to be fine.”
