Hartsburg-Emden sweeps Mount Pulaski in volleyball

[March 31, 2021]  The Hartem Stags defeated Mount Pulaski on Monday night in both the JV and Varsity contests held in the Ed Butkovich Gymnasium.

Each set was thrilling, filled with great volleys and tremendous defensive efforts from both teams. There were some huge kills from both sides and these two teams always give fans an opportunity to see championship caliber competition.

In the JV game the Stags won in three sets, 25-18, 23-25 and 17-15.

In the Varsity game the Stags also won in three sets, 18-25, 25-21 and 25-21.

The Stags held an 8-6 lead early in set one before the Lady Toppers came back to tie the game 9-9 and then go on a run of seven straight points. A 16-9 Mount Pulaski lead was the result.
 

The Stags pulled to within 18-12 before Mount Pulaski attacked again. Back-to-back kills by Alexis Wade put the Lady Toppers in front 22-14.

A kill by Alaina Bradburn brought the Stags to within six points,24-18 the score, but Mount Pulaski would finish off Hartem quickly and take the first set 25-18.

Mount Pulaski took a 3-0 lead in set two after a kill by Je’Na Rentmeister.

The Stags fought back to tie the game 4-4 after a tip by Avah Classen. The Stags pulled ahead 9-5 after a back row kill from Addie Beekman. After a kill by Gentri Fangmeier the Stags were up 13-9. A service ace by Fangmeier put the Stags up 16-11. The Stags would build up a 19-11 lead then see it quickly disappear.

Mount Pulaski battled back to a 19-20 deficit before a kill by Bradburn gave the Stags a little room to breathe.

After a kill by Mount Pulaski’s Cassidy Clark, the Lady Toppers trailed by a slim 21-22 margin.

An ace serve from Chloee O’Donoghue put the Stags in the driver’s seat with a 24-21 lead. Hartem takes set two 25-21.

Set three was yet another thriller. Mount Pulaski jumped on top 7-3 after a kill by Hailee Daigh.

A kill by Fangmeier and a tip by Bradburn put the Stags back in the thick of things, 9-7 the Lady Toppers lead.

The Stags would go on to tie the game 9-9 but a kill by Rentmeister put the Lady Toppers back in front 10-9.

The Stags took an 11-10 lead after Mount Pulaski watched the ball drop on defense. A kill by Cassie Crabtree gave the Stags a 13-12 lead. A kill by Wade tied the game 14-14.

The two teams kept fans on the edge of their seats with the back and forth scoring. The game would be tied at 17-17 and then 19-19.

The Stags went ahead 20-19 on a kill by Fangmeier. A kill by Rentmeister tied the game yet again, 20-20 the score.

Grabowski came up huge for the Stags with two consecutive kills down the stretch to give Hartem a 22-20 advantage. With Hattie Langley at the service line, the Stags continued to roll, 23-20 the lead.

Then it was Crabtree’s turn to shut things down. The sophomore finished off the Lady Toppers with back-to-back monster kills and the Stags win set three 25-21.

Hartem coach Jennifer Hayes spoke following the win about her team being out of sync, which is no surprise for these athletes who jumped into competition after such a long stretch of not being able to play and facing so many Covid-19 obstacles. “We’re just not in the right mental headspace,” said Hayes. “The reality is we are so out of sync. We just shouldn’t be playing in the Spring. This is our Homecoming game. We usually play Mount Pulaski as our mid-way game through the season. This is our second game of the season. It’s just that everything is off. It’s hard when it’s supposed to be September, and it’s April. I know people might say it doesn’t matter, but it does matter. So you’re just coming in and trying to get through it and trying to make it work. We look great in practice and then we come in and we’re nervous. We’re just trying to get it to flow, trying to play together, trying to make it right.”

Hayes is also putting together a team without a JV setter at the current time. She’s had to bring Varsity libero Addie Beekman down to JV to set and that’s put a lot on the freshman pulling double-duty. “So now Addie is playing a three-game thriller as a setter and then turning around and playing Varsity as my libero,” said Hayes. “She’s exhausted. She’s a freshman. I told her to go home and take an ice bath.” The freshman was key in the wins Monday night without a doubt.

Switching gears, Hayes really thought her team turned things around following the loss in the first set. “We have our moments where we play really well and then we drop. We had that second game in hand and then we began to throw it away. We were finally able to turn around and finish it once the momentum shifted our way. Then that third game was point for point and really could’ve gone either way. I thought Brianna (Grabowski) really stepped up again. She had some struggles but then she flipped it around. Only good things for her. I thought our blocking looked really good. I thought we recovered really well. I’m not taking anything away from Mount Pulaski. I thought they played a phenomenal defensive game. I mean phenomenal. They were hitting everything. We were swinging at the ball and it kept coming back at us. It was a very good night for them. They had very low errors. Donna (Dulle) had them ready to play. We came in and luckily we fell on the right side of the end.”

The Stags improved to 2-0 on the season.

Note: The Stags are playing without senior standout Grace Beekman, who sits on the injured list recovering from knee surgery. Beekman will attend SIU-Edwardsville in the Fall and play volleyball for the Cougars.

Stags stats

Gentri Fangmeier 8 points 7 kills 9 digs
Hattie Langley 8 points
Brianna Grabowski 7 kills
Avah Classen 24 assists 3 blocks
Addie Beekman 9 digs


[Teena Lowery