Last Thursday, when steady rain curtailed many outdoor activities, volleyball fans gathered in the gym at Mount St. Joseph Academy for an Athletic Association of Catholic Academies match. Here, the Mount's "Villa" troubles continued.

The Magic came in with a 3-1 record, their lone loss coming at the hands of Malvern's Villa Maria Academy. On Thursday, the Mounties suffered an 0-3 setback dealt them by visiting Villa Joseph Marie Academy of Holland, Pa.

While Villa Maria has long been a volleyball power, Villa Joe has fairly recently been improving its standing in the sport.

With the closing of former AACA member St. Basil's Academy at the end of the 2020-21 school year, a number of former SBA athletes enrolled at other schools in the league. Some of St. Basil's best volleyball players, in particular, found a new home at Villa Joseph Marie.

"They've always been a scrappy team; they don't let balls fall," observed MSJ head coach Amy Bergin. "Now they've added to that the offense that the St. Basil players brought to them, and that adds up to quite a team."

Of course, it didn't help that Mount St. Joe's had suffered several injuries in the 24 hours leading up to the game. One of its tall hitters, Daphne Mond, got hurt in practice the day before the bout, and right before Thursday's game fellow junior Ava Vespe (defensive specialist/ outside) appeared to roll an ankle.

The Magic and the Jems went neck-and-neck through most of the opening set. The Mount picked up some early points through Villa Joe errors, and the Magic also scored a few times when senior M.K. Fielke and junior Georgia Pickett combined for blocks up front.

With the score tied at 9-9, the hosts forged ahead 12-9 during one of Pickett's turns at the service line (this one included an ace down the left sideline). The Jems didn't slide any farther, and later the score levelled off again at 20-20.

A Mount hit out over the left boundary and a scoring tip by the visitors made it 22-20, but the Mount got a point when the Jems misjudged the flight of a ball and let it hit the floor. Villa Joe then finished out the set at 25-21 thanks to a kill and a pair of MSJ errors.

Encouraged by their win in the opening set, the Jems played aggressively at the start of the second round. They ran off five consecutive points in one sequence, and pulled away to lead 12-5, forcing a Mount time-out. Steady play by the Magic during the next few exchanges led to three points on Villa Joe mistakes.

Despite this, and despite kills by senior Olivia Esposito, junior Sophia Funchion, and Pickett, Mount St. Joseph wasn't able to come all the way back from its early deficit, and a 25-17 win gave the visitors a 2-0 lead in the match score.

"Skill-wise we were fine," Coach Bergin said, "but strategy-wise they kind of forgot what was being told to them. I could tell from the get-go they weren't having fun."

Villa Joseph Marie escaped a number of predicaments during the match through some inspiring digs and saves, especially during the third set when the Mounties fought hard to avoid a sweep. The Magic also made some impressive recoveries, but in many instances they ultimately lost the point, whereas VJM usually did not.

As the third set got underway, the score seesawed up to 10-10, then the Jems rolled up six points in a row. At this juncture the third frame was starting to look like the second, but this time the Magic would not go down as easily.

First, they put the brakes on the Villa Joe run with a scoring block by Manas. Still, they trailed 14-20 a few minutes later, but a kill by Epsosito secured a side-out and Funchion rotated to the service line. The Jems struggled with three straight serves by the MSJ junior, and the Magic were now right back in the set, trailing by two at 18-20.

"I think the main thing is that they relaxed a bit and started to have fun playing," Bergin explained. "They were calming down, and you saw smiles."

A little later, the visitors nudged the lead back to three points at 19-22, then two consecutive kills by the Magic's Fielke made it a one-point affair. The Jems got a point back, then Mount senior Dylan Flannery made good on a hit from the middle of the court to make it 22-23.

The visitors scored to bring up match point, then they committed a hitting error and after that the Magic scored on a block to tie things up at 24-24. On a fairly long rally, the visitors (and even some of the home fans) thought the Mount should have been called for a double hit, but play progressed. Justice was eventually served when the Mounties sent the ball out across the left sideline. A hard Mount hit then travelled past the Villa Joe baseline, and a 26-24 Villa Joe victory ended the match.

"Tonight these girls had an opportunity to learn a lot," Bergin noted, "because you don't learn much when you win all the time. They're young kids, and they're still learning how to compartmentalize and not bring outside concerns onto the court. I want them to leave those things behind and enjoy themselves out there; this is their s