Photo by Wes Morgan
The Mendon volleyball team is finding its groove again after a two-week hiatus. And in the Hornets’ second match back on the court, they picked up their second straight St. Joseph County League victory with a 25-17, 25-13, 25-10 win at White Pigeon Monday night.
A fine performance from the service line and efficient attacking helped coach Kathy Trenary’s squad cruise past the Chiefs. Senior Brooke Howard finished 20 of 27 kill attempts, sophomore Jordan VanOss registered 10 kills and Loryn Baughman finished the night with 28 assists.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries and we had two weeks where we didn’t have any game time,” Trenary said. “The Bronson game last week, and this game, I feel like we’re starting our season over again. We lost momentum. The Bronson game was a scary game because we hadn’t played in two weeks. To get by that one and play White Pigeon and play well against them, we’ve gained some momentum.”
Hornets senior middle hitter Alexis Russell was credited with three aces, but her serves created problems for White Pigeon all night.
“This wasn’t our best effort tonight,” said Chiefs coach Tony Hooley, whose team slipped to 19-13-1 overall and 1-2 in league play. “Once they got in our heads with the serving it really got tough for us. It took us out of everything. We were on our heels from about hallway through that second set when Alexis Russell went back to serve. She served like nine or 10 straight and that really set the tone for the rest of the game.”
Bethany Hagner had eight kills and 10 digs for the Chiefs. Skyler DeMeyer posted 16 assists and seven digs, Rachel Brock served up a pair of aces and finished with 10 digs, Danielle Chantrenne posted four kills and five digs and Sydney Harmon and Kathrina Hagner each contributed two kills.