GREENCASTLE VOLLEYBALL SECTIONAL: Mounties open with quick win over Clovers

Cloverdale's Erin Johnson gets a ball back over during a rally in Tuesday's loss to Southmont in the Greencastle volleyball sectional.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

The opening game of IHSAA Volleyball Class 2A Sectional No. 44 was a quick one for both Cloverdale and Southmont Tuesday night.

A 5-0 start for the Mounties set the table for what turned into a speedy evening of play as the Clovers fell 25-9, 25-13, 25-10.

“Our serve-receive has improved this year but (Southmont) is very good,” Cloverdale head coach Paige Glassburn said. “It did improve from during the regular season but their hitters played a lot of quick balls and we’re not up to that level yet.

“Emily (Mann) did well for us tonight and Hailey (Caulkins) has come a long way for us in the front row.”

The 5-0 start turned into a 10-3 deficit and grew to 10 points at 19-9 as Southmont controlled the tempo both at the net and behind the service line as Tayler Anderson and Regan Remley had five aces in the closing stretch while Dara Watson had two of her 11 kills in the final five points.

Cloverdale started the second set stronger with a 4-0 lead and kept things close at 10-8 but more service pressure led to passes going astray, hampering the Clover attack as Chelsea Veatch had three aces to help turn the two-point gap into a 10-point deficit at 21-11 before finishing 25-13.

A 5-1 start behind a Mallory Mason ace turned into a 15-4 lead in the third set as Southmont continued to run Cloverdale ragged, collecting 19 aces on the night, the last from Remley ending the match as the Mounties moved on to face Riverton Parke in the sectional semifinal Saturday.

Cloverdale finished the season 3-20 with a 1-9 mark in WIC play, both improvements over the 2021 season with Glassburn

“This year, we only had a few wins but we competed well,” Glassburn said. “We took a lot from several close matches.

“It was definitely a growing year. Our team is learning; having helped last year, there was a lot of tension in the group but they’re learning about family and where it starts as a team, something they realized during the summer and as the season went along.”