Lady Toppers lose a tough one to St. Teresa

[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.

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.”

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.

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.

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]