STURGIS — The Mendon Hornets played as well as one could hope, winning the St. Joseph County volleyball tournament held in Sturgis on Monday.
The Lady Hor nets played to a perfect 5-0 record, and did not drop a single set. Mendon dropped Colon 25-16, 25-11, followed by wins over Sturgis 25-16, 25-23, and Centreville 25-14, 25-9. In the semi-finals, the Lady Hornets topped Constantine 25-23, 25-20, then took care of Three Rivers in the finals, 25-18, 25-21.
Gracie Schultz had 11 aces, 51 kills, four blocks and 42 digs for the tournament, while Cienna Nightingale added 41 kills, four blocks and 34 digs. Jadyn Samson booked 60 digs, 13 assists and two aces, teammate Karyssa Holtz came up with 87 assists, 27 digs, 13 kills and four aces, while Michelle Gomez-Sanchez added 23 digs and two aces. Rounding out the Mendon effort, Brooke Gerth finished with eight blocks and five kills, Sabrinia Monroy had seven blocks and six kills, and Lashell Blair booked eight kills.
Mendon coach Ken Herbert commented that, “I thought we played some very good volleyball today. While we lost three starters from last year, we have a core group of seniors who led the way today” He also stated that “We are both experienced and young at the same time, with two freshmen in our starting lineup. Our defense kept the ball off the ground, which Jadyn is the driving force in that aspect. We’ve also got two very strong options on offense, with Gracie and Cienna, who can find any part of the court.”
Runner-up Three Rivers went 3-1 in the tourney, defeating White Pigeon 25-20, 25-19, and 25-22. The Lady Wildcats also stopped Constantine 17-25, 25-21 and 25-13 before moving on to play in the semi-finals against host Sturgis. Three Rivers prevailed in that match, 25-15, 25-15, before falling to Mendon in the finals.
Miley Southland recorded 90 assists, 29 digs, 10 kills and seven aces for the Wildcats, while Dani Glass had 45 digs, 20 kills, three aces and two blocks. London Hoffmaster added 24 kills and seven blocks, Allie Yost came up with 17 kills and 10 digs, Braylee Burg recorded 20 kills and six blocks, followed by Leah Kane, who had 34 digs. Addi Moore had 27 digs, and Peyton Roberts recorded 24 digs. Ashlynn Barnes notched 12 kills and two blocks, while Kassidy Jeschke booked seven digs. Kenna Plotts also had two aces for Three Rivers.
The host Trojans went 2-2 on the day, defeating Centreville 25-13, 25-22, then losing to eventual champion Mendon. Sturgis rebounded to beat Colon before being eliminated by tournament runner-up Three Rivers.
“We played okay, but need to make adjustments on some things to come out swinging for the start of tough conference play,” stated Sturgis coach Brian Jordan.
Angela Cary had 21 kills, followed by Cora Phillips and Myah Burkey, who had 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Chloe Patrick led with 23 assists, while Riely West chipped in with 21.
Constantine went 2-3-2 on the day, beating White Pigeon 18-25, 25-23, 26-24, then dropping two of three against Three Rivers, 25-17, 20-25, 13-25. The Lady Falcons then faced eventual tourney champ Mendon, where they lost 23-25, 20-25.
“The growth and confidence shown today was tremendous,” Falcons coach Tiffany Knight stated. “These ladies found their inner grit and intensity today. The fact that they were down after one game to White Pigeon, then came back to win the next two shows what kind of kids they are.” She also commented that “Progress, not perfection, will get us where we need to be.”
Leading in aces for Constantine was Andee Evans with nine, while Jaelyn Buglione had four. Jaedyn Herlein had 25 kills, Raeann Michalek had 13, followed by Buglione with nine. Heerlein added 13 blocks, while Buglione tallied seven. Leading in assists was Evans, who had 51, while Kate Jones contributed 18 digs, Buglione notched 16, and Herlein totaled 10.
Centreville also competed in the tournament, and finished with two losses and a split. The Lady Bulldogs fell to Sturgis 13-25, 22-25, before splitting a pair of games with Colon (25-17, 21-25). Centreville then faced Mendon, and came up short, losing 14-25 and 9-25.
“The Bulldogs had a very back-and-forth day where we struggled with consistency and had a lot of unforced errors,” commented head coach Deric Mostrom. “There were definitely some good moments on the day, but with the talent in the county, consistency is the key, and we struggled with that.” He also went on to point out that “Drew Alexander did a really good job in the back row for us, giving us a lot of opportunities to score on the offensive side.”
Kalli Sneed had 33 assists, eight digs, two aces and one kill to lead the Bulldogs, Drew Alexander had 37 digs, three assists, and one ace, Mary Stears notched 22 kills, 15 digs, one ace and one block, Adyson Mastny tallied six kills, one dig, and one block, Kaylee Griggs posted six kills and four blocks, Arianna Six had eight digs and two aces, Keturah Younts had two kills and one dig, Nikki Lennard added seven digs, Tyla Yoder collected two aces, and Livia Jacobs had one kill.
White Pigeon went 1-5 on the day, and coach Melissa Gales said “That doesn’t fare well with us, but we played tough against each of our opponents, as the scores show.”
The Lady Chiefs went 1-2 against Constantine, winning the first game 25-18, but then dropped two hard-fought games to the Falcons, 23-25 and 24-26. White Pigeon then squared off against Three Rivers, and lost 20-25, 18-25 and 21-25.
“It’s early, and we’re taking every opportunity to grow and get better. We did get to celebrate an amazing accomplishment tonight: senior setter Kenlee Schrader recorded her 1,000th career assist as a Chief, and we are so proud of her,” Gales said.
Statistically for White Pigeon, Kenlee Schrader had 11 kills, 36 assists, 22 digs, two blocks and one ace. Sadie McDaniel recorded 14 kills, three assists, seven digs, six blocks and two aces. Grace Bontrager added 24 digs, three kills, three assists and two blocks, while Mable Post had 25 digs, nine kills, six assists and an ace. Teammate Addison Smith booked 35 digs, three aces and three assists, Kadance Smith had 12 kills, four blocks and one dig, Jennafaye Zehr came up with 18 digs, one ace, one assist and one kill, and Emily Miller had four digs, two aces and two kills.
Colon also took part in the tournament, losing to tourney champ Mendon and Sturgis, and splitting with Centreville. Raegan Thaxton recorded 18 kills, six digs, three aces and three blocks, Jillian Stabler had 22 digs, 12 assists and eight aces, while Taylor Wilson added 15 kills, two blocks, five digs and four aces. Madison Kulpinski booked nine kills, seven blocks and four aces, freshman Braelyn Thaxton contributed 17 assists, and Amaya Johnson recorded 21 assists.
“The girls played really well to start out the season,” stated Colon coach Michelle Walkinhood. “I was very proud of the leaders on the court. Jillian laying it out in the back row, and Raegan kept swinging to lead the team in kills.”
Walkinhood also mentioned that “Braelyn shook off the nerves, starting as a freshman, and we’re excited to see what she will do over the next four years!”
