Mount Pulaski volleyball sweeps Springfield Lutheran

[September 27, 2018] 

Tuesday night on the volleyball court at Mount Pulaski High School it was business as usual for Donna Dulle's Lady Toppers versus Springfield Lutheran.

The Lady Toppers JV Team took the court first and defeated the Crusaders 25-20 and 25-16.

The Lady Toppers then defeated the Crusaders 22-25, 25-19 and 25-17 in the varsity match with Skylar Hayes and Abigail Fitzpatrick combining for 30 kills over the 3-set match. Hayes led the way with 19 kills and Fitzpatrick was consistent with 11 kills.

In a rather late night at MPHS due to the "Volley for the Cause" live auction, the two varsity teams did not take the court until after 8 p.m.

Set one

With set one going back and forth, and a just a couple points difference early on, Springfield Lutheran finally pulled away for good after back-to-back kills by sophomore Paige Bergschneider made the score 20-18. Hayes allowed Mount Pulaski to keep pace as the score rose to 23-21 but the Crusaders capitalized on a couple late-set errors by MP and took set one 25-22.
 

Set two

The two teams battled back and forth in set two much the same way. Cassidy Clark's kill that tied the score at 9-9 immediately set off the "She's a freshman!" chants from the Purple Reign Spirit Squad.

A monster kill by Morgan May gave Mount Pulaski a 12-11 lead and had the entire gym rocking. Party like it's 1999, kids.

Springfield Lutheran would take a 14-13 lead but that would be all Skylar Hayes would allow. Hayes dominated set two and the Lady Toppers stormed out to a 21-16 lead and before long MP was delirious with a 25-19 win in set two.

Set three

Set three began around 9 p.m. and nobody was about to leave the gym and this excitement. Springfield Lutheran raced out to an 8-4 lead before Paige Stewart knotted the score 10-10 with her kill. The score would knot itself at 15-15 before an ace serve from Fitzpatrick put Mount Pulaski in the lead for good.

The Lady Toppers went up 19-16 after Hayes tipped one into no woman's land beyond the reach of the Crusaders.

Stewart, who hadn't really fallen asleep but had been a bit quiet in the first two sets, stepped it up with a couple kills and a couple huge blocks late in set three to give Mount Pulaski a commanding 23-17 lead.

Isabella Wade then served the Lady Toppers to a 25-17 deciding victory and it was a "Let's Go Crazy" kinda night over in the Purple Reign Spirit Squad. Everyone was finally free to go home.

A great evening of support for the Schneider family was concluded by a double-win from the Lady Toppers.

The Mount Pulaski Varsity now improves to 10-2 on the season.

Mount Pulaski will travel to Illini Bluffs tonight and to Belleville East this weekend for a tournament.

Mount Pulaski stats

Skylar Hayes 19 kills 17 digs 1 block 1 ace

Abigail Fitzpatrick 11 kills 25 digs 1 ace

Isabella Wade 25 assists 7 digs

Morgan May 3 kills 5 digs 2 aces

Paige Stewart 5 kills 2 blocks

Taylor Trimmer 10 digs 1 ace

Madison Thomas 3 digs

Chloe Olson 15 assists

Savanah Moore 3 digs

Cassidy Clark 2 kills

[Teena Lowery]

Scenes from the game