Villa Maria volleyball outlasts Mount St. Joe’s in three close sets

Springfield >> Villa Maria Academy’s win against host Mount Saint Joseph on Tuesday was a close battle between two strong volleyball teams that was a lot closer than the 3-0 score indicated.
All three sets – 25-20, 25-21, 25-22 – were nip-and-tuck affairs in which the Hurricanes won with some key late scoring.
“It’s always a close game with Mount – they’re a great team, they’re coached very well,” said Villa Maria volleyball coach Peggy Evans. “No matter what is going on, it’s always Mount and Villa, and it’s always a tough match.”

Last month, the Hurricanes squeezed out a 3-2 win against Mount on their home court. Villa Maria (10-2) is currently ranked No. 3 in the District 1 3A division, while Mount (8-6) is ranked fifth.
“It’s always going to be nip-and-tuck, we always have fun playing these guys,” said Mount coach Amy Bergin. “Peggy and I always know it’s going to be a dogfight (smiles). It’s always fun.”
In the first set, Mount trailed Villa 21-20 late in the contest, but a 5-1 run put that set in the Hurricanes’ column. Mount jumped out to a 13-9 lead in the second set, but some key hitting down the stretch by juniors Alena Whitwell (18 kills) and Gillian Keaveney (12 kills) allowed Villa to rally for a 25-21 win.

“Gillian can really jump and put the ball down,” said Evans. “Alena is just an all-around great player, can see the court and has a lot of power, and can also jump – don’t let her little size fool you, she’s got a cannon.”
Evans also praised the play of senior libero Ava Goryl (24 digs) and senior setter Gabby Konrad (18 assists).
“I think our defense was good – Ava stepped up and played very well, and Gabby ran the offense well,” said Evans.
Mount had several strong hitting threats who made their presence felt Tuesday, including senior outside hitters Daphne Mond and Allison Williams, senior middle hitter Taylor Montgomery and sophomore outside/middle hitter Lauren Montgomery.

Evans said, “We tried to serve Mount tough, so they wouldn’t get a lot of in-service setting, because that’s when their power shines through, [when] they were going right through our block.”
In the third set, a Mond kill gave the hosts an 8-7 lead, but some strong play up front by Keaveney keyed a 5-0 run that gave Villa a lead they never relinquished.
With the 3-0 victory, Villa Maria remains undefeated in the AACA, and appears to be headed for the 3A tournament (the top eight teams qualify). The Hurricanes’ only two losses this fall have been to Pope John Paul II in the season opener and to Garnet Valley, who is currently ranked third in 4A.

The Hurricanes have a good mix of seniors and juniors who have contributed to the team’s success this fall, including Whitwell, Keaveney, Konrad, Goryl, senior middle Ciara Bradley and junior setter Leah Machita.
“This is a good group of girls. We’ve got a good offense and good chemistry,” said Evans. “We have some great assistant coaches too – Burgess Hoff, Joe Do and Alex Henault, a Villa Maria grad.”
Villa Maria has some tough teams coming up, including Lower Merion (ranked 7th in 4A) Oct. 7, Sacred Heart (10-5) Oct. 13 and undefeated Unionville (top-ranked in 4A) Oct. 17.
“We have some tough teams coming up, so we [still] have some work to do,” said Evans.

Mount has 10 seniors on its roster, including Mond, Montgomery, Williams and middle hitter Georgia Pickett, who played key roles in keeping Tuesday’s game close.
“We’ve shown good progress this season,” said Bergin. “The fact that we have 10 seniors that have played together for four years, we have the advantage of moving a lot of people around, moving to different positions if needed. We have a lot of versatility, a lot of change in velocity of swings, different types of attacks. Our players’ volleyball IQ is pretty high, and they can change their strategy mid-set and sometimes they don’t tell me (laughs).
“After today’s game, I told our players, ‘Don’t take yourself seriously, this is a fun game.’ Keep what is outside, outside the lines – inside the lines is your playground, and have fun.
“We have a group that is very supportive of each other; they don’t get upset with each other, get down on each other. The only thing is, they get down on themselves [at times]. Looking at it as an outsider, from a coaching perspective, a spectator perspective and a mom perspective, it looked [to me] like they weren’t having fun today. After the game, I told our players to have fun [with the game].”