Mount volleyball wins District 1 tournament opener

by Tom Utescher
Posted 11/1/21

In the PIAA District 1 Class AAA volleyball tournament, third-seeded Mount St. Joseph Academy opened play October 26 against Merion Mercy. The Magic prevailed, 3-1.

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Mount volleyball wins District 1 tournament opener

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In the PIAA District 1 Class AAA volleyball tournament, third-seeded Mount St. Joseph Academy opened play last Tuesday evening, October 26, against a familiar rival from the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies. Visiting Merion Mercy, whom the Mount had beaten twice in league competition, put up a spirited resistance, but the Magic prevailed, 3-1.

Merion's Golden Bears had been seeded sixth in the bracket.

The Mounties had played much of the regular season without one of their dominant hitters, Olivia Esposito. The 6'1" senior suffered a knee injury in one of the team's earliest outings, returned for a few matches, then was sidelined again.  At this stage, she is the only senior on the squad who has made a college commitment, deciding to play for the College of William and Mary.

At the beginning of the first set against Merion last Tuesday, October 26, the Mount reeled off six straight points, starting with a hit by senior Aisleigh Hopkins. The streak also included two kills by junior Daphne Mond, a joint block by junior Georgia Pickett and sophomore Gillian Manas, and a pair of errors by the Golden Bears.

Despite several time-outs, Merion wasn't able to make serious inroads into the MSJ lead, which remained around six or seven points up until the score reached 20-14. The visitors got a point on a ball that snuck down off of the net tape, but that was sandwiched between two very smart, well-placed tips by Magic junior Taylor Montgomery.

After a block by Pickett got the Mounties to 23-16, the hosts gave a point back on a miscue. Merion returned the favor by hitting the ball into the net to bring up set point, and then the Magic won 25-17 when their guests were able to return a serve by Hopkins.

The Golden Bears surprised the Magic as they came on strong at the start of the second set, going up 7-2 as the Mount had some trouble handling Merion serves. As the set went on, the Mounties reduced the gap here and there, but wouldn't pull even until near the end of the session.

The hosts called a time-out when they were trailing 11-16, and another when they were down 16-21. The score seesawed to 17-22, then a kill by senior M.K. Fielke secured a side-out for the Magic. Fellow senior Dylan Flannery (a team captain along with Fielke) stepped to the service line for a three-point run that made it 21-22. The Bears were unable to return two of her serves, and they gave up the other point on a hitting error.

The visitors scored a 23rd point, but the Mounties got back within one on a tip by Pickett and then drew even at 23-all when the visitors hit the ball out over the left sideline. A Mount error followed, then Merion collected set point when a ball contacted by the Mount went on the wrong side of the antenna on the right side.

The Magic hadn't really started to play hard until the very end of the set, and they knew it.

"We realized that in the second set we just were not in it," Fielke said. "We didn't have any energy."

Merion was doing a good job of digging out hard hits by the Mount, keeping the ball in play when the Magic thought they'd gotten a kill.

For set three, Fielke said, "We tried to keep our energy up, and we did more tipping, because we saw they weren't picking that up very well."

In the third set, the Magic moved up out of a 5-5 tie to lead 10-7, but the Golden Bears ran off three points to tie the score.

The next Mount move would be decisive, though. The hosts had a 12-11 edge when a Merion serving error brought Fielke to the service line for Mount St. Joseph. Over on the left side, Mond was feeling it. She kept asking for sets and delivering kills. Merion called time-out with an 11-18 deficit, but the Mount kept going.

Picket scored on a hit and teamed up with Manas for a scoring block, while Merion helped out with some hitting errors. Finally, a ball that wriggled off the tape fooled the Mounties for a Merion side-out. The Magic were still up 22-12, and the visitors never recovered. Mount St. Joe closed out the set at 25-15 to go up 2-1 in the match.

The fourth round got underway with the Mount eager to close out the contest without delay. Several kills apiece by Mond and Fielke helped power the Magic to a 9-2 advantage. Later on, Merion was down 18-10 when it called time-out. The count rose to 22-12, but it was slower going from there, with the Golden Bears battling to keep their season alive.

Throughout the set, there had been some long, dramatic rallies.

"That just adds to the energy of the whole match," Fielke commented. "I think having those long rallies makes us more focused."

After the Mount attained a 10-point advantage, seven of the next eight points were scored by Merion, which had two little runs interrupted by a kill by the Magic's Pickett. The score had now closed up to 23-19. On a swat by Mond, the ball struck a Merion block and went out of bounds, bringing up set and match point.

A serving error by the hosts turned the ball over, and the Golden Bears also scored on a block and an unreturned serve to make it 24-22. From the middle of the Mount court, Flannery hit the ball over the net and deep down the left sideline, finding the floor to seal a Mount St. Joe victory.

Mount St. Joseph Academy, Merion-Mercy Academy, Athletic Association of Catholic Academies, AACA