NEW MARKET — Hungry to take back the county championship title, it was all Athenian volleyball over the Southmont Mounties in a sweep, 25-22, 25-17 and 25-19.
While the Mounties never did lead in set one, the home team kept it interesting in the middle of the set as Mountie senior Catie Himes rattled off five serves in a row to bring the Mounties within one at 12-13. The Athenians held off the Mounties with some strong hits and a couple service aces to win the first match and set the tempo.
Athenian coach Allison Manwell was excited to see her team come out and take care of business.
“We have had an unspoken goal all season to take back the county title,” Manwell said. “Our girls were very hungry after coming up short last year.”
The second and third sets were all Athenians led by strong hits, net play and good serves.
“Katy Grace Whitecotton was awesome at the net for us,” Manwell said. “She was able to put away balls to keep Southmont off balance. All of our hitters did a good job of confusing the blockers.”
The Athenians were led by Reese Price who had 14 kills, Whitecotton with seven, and Ally Strickland with five. Claire Peacock had 24 assists. Strickland and Olivia Hedrick each had four service aces.
Southmont coach Erin Barry credits Manwell and her Athenians for taking her Mounties out of the game early and keeping them away.
“Crawfordsville did a good job of keeping us out of our system,” Barry said. “We couldn’t get going offensively, and we couldn’t shut down their runs.”
One bright spot for the Mounties was the return of junior Kenzie Douglas after being out the last couple of weeks due to injury.
“Kenzie led us with seven kills on her first night back,” Barry said. “She gave us the energy we needed, but we just needed more from the rest of the team.”
Along with Douglas’ seven kills, Mountie Mallory Mason had 15 assists, Jenna Grino had 11 digs, and Himes had five service aces.
The Athenians improve to 13-6 overall and 2-1 in the Sagamore Athletic Conference. They continue to face a tough schedule with more conference foes in Tri-West and Western Boone, in addition to another weekend tournament.
The Mounties fall to 8-10 overall and 1-5 in their last year in the SAC.
