Lady
Toppers lose a tough one to St. Teresa
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[September 14, 2016]
It was a tough night for Mount Pulaski in Tuesday night's volleyball
play. St. Teresa managed to control set one with sizable leads the
entire time. The closest Mount Pulaski would come in set one was
21-16, following a nice block by Alexandra Beckers and Morgan May.
The Bulldogs pulled away for a 24-17 lead before finishing off the
Lady Toppers 25-19 in set one.
St. Teresa jumped out to any early 4-1 lead in set two before Mount
Pulaski came scratching their way back to tie them at 5-5. Kills by
Abigail Fitzpatrick and Alexandra Beckers kept the Lady Toppers
close over the next several volleys, and eventually the score was
tied again at 11-11.
Back to back kills by St. Teresa’s Abby Robinson allowed the
Bulldogs to take the lead back, 13-12. Hayes reached double-digits
in the kill column when she tied the score at 13-13.
Then it was Fitzpatrick firing up the crowd when she hammered one
down on the opponents side and the score was again tied, 15-15.
St. Teresa managed to run out to a 18-15 lead, but the scrappy Lady
Toppers kept coming back.
A timeout was called by St. Teresa with Mount Pulaski on fire as the
score rested at 21-20 in favor of the ladies in orange. The teams
would keep tying each other back and forth until the score was
23-23, then it was finally Mount Pulaski’s turn to pull away with
the win.
Fitzpatrick capped off the victory with a kill and set two belonged
to the purple team, 25-23.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Sep/14/images/ads/current/Johnson-Lumber-sda-SHI-2016.png)
Set three
was every bit as intense as the second one. The two teams battled
back and forth with St. Teresa holding a one to two point advantage
early in the set until Mount Pulaski tied the score at 12-12.
The tide then turned the way of the Lady Toppers and it was their
turn to hold a point or two advantage until St. Teresa tied things
back up, 18-18.
A few very long balls hit by the Lady Toppers allowed St. Teresa to
command a 21-18 lead, and despite a timeout Mount Pulaski just could
not regroup and pull out a win.
The score was 23-19 in favor of St. Teresa when Abby Robinson took
over and her last two kills of the set finished off the Lady
Toppers, 25-19. The roster has this young lady listed as a freshman,
so no doubt her name will be very recognizable in the future as she
continues to be in important part of the Bulldogs lineup. Robinson
finished with 10 kills and her teammate, DaeLin Switzer, a
sophomore, finished with 5 kills.
Meanwhile, Mount Pulaski got outstanding performances from Hayes and
Fitzpatrick. Hayes finished with 17 kills and15 digs, while
Fitzpatrick had 14 kills and 15 digs.
Despite the loss, Coach Donna Dulle was pleased with some of the
things she saw on the court. “I thought at times we played some
great defense,” she said. "We play with a lot of heart all the time.
The outsides did hit well.”
Assistant Coach Bethany Dulle also reminded her mom that the
majority of the time four underclassmen are on the court.
When speaking of the four underclassmen who are seeing a ton of
playing time at the varsity level, the veteran coach noted, "They
are all going to get better along the way.”
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![](../images/091416pics/sports1.jpg)
Mount Pulaski dynamic duo
dynamic duo Skylar Hayes (23) and Abigail Fitzpatrick (6), pictured
center, combined for 31 kills and 30 digs Tuesday night on the
volleyball court. Despite the phenomenal Mount Pulaski effort by the
two sophomores, Mount Pulaski fell in three sets 19-25, 25-23 and
19-25 to the St. Teresa Bulldogs.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Mar/14/images/ads/current/tires250x300.gif)
Those four
underclassmen she is referring to are Fitzpatrick, Hayes, Morgan May
(all sophomores) and Paige Stewart, a freshman. All are starters.
Two more freshmen have also been thrown into the mix as of late, add
Isabella Wade and Kaylee Wilham and Dulle has a lot of youth to mold
into solid varsity level performers.
Wade has already seen considerable time on the court and it appears
any freshman jitters are already gone, while Wilham was thrown out
there to serve late in set two, literally with the game on the line,
and she performed flawlessly, giving Dulle all the more reason to
smile.
Even on a night when the Lady Toppers may have dropped their record
to 3-2 on the season, there are many positives to look at as Mount
Pulaski gets set for a “first” on Thursday night. Mount Pulaski will
travel to Lincoln Community High School Thursday night to take on
the Lady Railers in what Dulle says is the first ever regular season
matchup between the two teams.
In the past the Mount Pulaski and Lincoln have crossed paths at the
Mount Pulaski Topper Tourney and the Fall Festival Tournament, but
never before have they scheduled a head-to-head matchup. This one
looks to be a good one, with a freshman match kicking off at 5:00
p.m. at the Roy S. Anderson Gymnasium. Junior Varsity and Varsity
matches will follow.
The weekend will also be full of volleyball with Mount Pulaski
hosting the 2016 Fall Festival Tournament beginning Friday night at
5:00 p.m. and continuing Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Sep/14/images/ads/current/Symphony_lda_091814.png)
Mount Pulaski Varsity Stats
Kenzie Lock 10 digs
Abigail Fitzpatrick 14 kills 15 digs
Alex Clemons 2 kills 2 digs
Alexandra Beckers 4 kills 10 digs 14 assists
Morgan May 1 kill 2 digs
Paige Stewart 1 dig
Skylar Hayes 17 kills 15 digs
Isabella Wade 15 assists 5 digs
[Teena Lowery]
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