Mount Pulaski takes 3rd in 8th Grade Class 2A State Tournament

[March 21, 2022]  The Mount Pulaski Honeybears brought home some hardware Saturday night from the 2022 8th Grade Class 2A State Tournament in Auburn. 

After defeating Colchester West Prairie 25-19 and 29-27 Friday night in the first round, the Honeybears advanced to the final four on Saturday. 

Mount Pulaski lost Saturday morning 25-21 and 25-16 in the semifinals to the eventual state champions, Bloomington Corpus Christi. 

The loss pushed the Honeybears into the third place game, but first they had to hang around and watch the next game to see who they would play. As it turned out, it would be a battle in Auburn for third place featuring two teams from Logan County: the Mount Pulaski Honeybears and the Chester-East Lincoln Panthers.  

Chester-East Lincoln had beaten Mount Pulaski twice in the regular season. 

Saturday afternoon’s matchup between the two teams would take three sets. Chester-East Lincoln won the first set 25-18. Mount Pulaski fought back to win set two 25-21 and then took set three 25-19, earning the third place trophy. 

Whitney Nichols, who is in her first year coaching Mount Pulaski volleyball, reflected on the successful weekend and was very proud of her team.

“That first set against Bloomington Corpus Christi, we battled point for point,” said Nichols. “They (the Honeybears) did not back down whatsoever. They knew what challenge was ahead of them and they rose to the challenge. That first set we got beat 21-25 and I was like, ok we still got some more fight in us.” 

“In the second set Olivia Smith, a sixth grader, started off with three blocks against their big outside hitter. Back-to-back-to-back. And I mean, she shut her down. I looked at Olivia like ‘she’s your responsibility] and she’s like ‘ok, I got her.’ And then, three blocks….I’m like, that kid,’ said a smiling Nichols, shaking her head. “I mean at the end we just ran out of gas, which kind of somewhat can be expected against a powerhouse team like that. But we held our own and I can’t complain.”

Bloomington Corpus Christi went on to win the state tournament with a 27-1 record.

When it came time for the Honeybears to play the third place game against Logan County rivals, Chester-East Lincoln, Mount Pulaski had their work cut out for them. 

The Panthers had already given Mount Pulaski two of their losses in regular season play. 

“The first set against CEL was rough for us,” said Nichols. “It was more individual play than team play. So I pulled them aside before the second set and told them we need to stop playing individually and play as six girls and as a team on the floor and just go for it. I feel like there’s a little piece of we’re thinking about the past because we were thinking about the previous losses (to CEL) to where we don’t want to make those same mistakes that we did in the last two. I told them to forget about the last two matches and focus on the moment, be in the present and just push forward. They locked in in that second set. We had a few moments where we got on some runs and then they got on some runs. But we mentally locked in during that second set and we won 25-21. The third set we really came to play. We got up 11-3 at one point and we just kept rolling. We had serve to start in set three and Aly Murphy just went back and did her thing. Elayna Marten got on that outside pen, and Elayna is a lefty, which a lefty on the outside is usually a little uncalled for but Elayna made a few errors along the way but they were good aggressive errors and she just kept pushing. She just kept swinging and swinging and she caught fire at the end of the third set and you could just see that fierce, competitive side come out of her. And then Aly Murphy was just solid. She’s my go-to in passing, serving and everything. Aly just brings everybody together with her leadership. It was pretty cool to see us incorporate plays this weekend that we’ve been working on all season long. This was the first weekend we brought out some of those plays and we kind of surprised some people. The plays that we ran, they executed very well. Very well. With Ella Martin and Rhiah Solomon in the middle they never broke down, even when there were some rough spots. And then Olivia Smith was just hitting the ball so well and blocking everybody. I think Olivia was one of the top players at the state tournament who had the most blocks in the entire tournament. And she did that as a sixth grader. She peaked at the right time this season, so I was super happy. It was a fun match.”

How does coaching volleyball compare to playing volleyball for the first year Mount Pulaski coach, who has played volleyball her entire life, from Elkhart Grade School to Lincoln Zion Lutheran to Mount Pulaski High School and eventually at the collegiate level. 

“Coaching is more stressful than playing,” Nichols laughed. 

Nichols mentioned the urge to dive for a ball during one moment she was coaching Friday night. “I was like, I can’t go get that because I have to stay on the sideline and coach,” said a smiling Nichols. “The commentator from West Prairie even said to me, ‘I thought you were actually gonna dive and go for that ball’ and I said, ‘I wish!’ 

“Coaching is just so much more stressful than playing. I looked at my assistant coach, Maddy Davis, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we can go out there and do the things that we need to do, but we can’t because we have to train and teach these girls.’ Were some of the moments during this season challenging? Absolutely. But these girls prevailed.” 

For the 2022 Honeybears there was a goal of getting to State from the beginning of the season. A dream that had to be put on hold for the last two seasons, due to Covid-19 and the cancellation of the state tournament.  
 

Congratulations to the 3rd Place Mount Pulaski Honeybears! Photo courtesy of Heather Murphy

“The girls looked at me the very first day of practice and said, ‘We want to go back to State, we want to bring home a state trophy and prove people wrong.’ It was something I reminded them at practice Thursday night,” said Nichols. “Friday night against West Prairie, I saw that these girls were ready. I was more nervous Friday than I was Saturday. This is what they had been working towards and for me, I didn’t want to let them down. So it made me push a little harder. I told the girls I might’ve came off a little rough sometimes but it was all because I love you all and I’m trying to get more out of you. And they were good. Overall, it was a journey this season. So to go out with a win, I’ll take it any day.”

After the 3rd place win, it was Aly Murphy’s grandmother, Donna Vaughan, who first suggested a group photo of the two teams, Mount Pulaski and Chester-East Lincoln. Murphy’s mom, Heather, is a long-time teacher at Chester-East Lincoln. The family ties are deeper yet. Vaughan’s sister, Dawn Crawford, is an assistant coach for Chester-East Lincoln. And finally Vaughan’s daughter Lisa Leonard, is an assistant coach for Mount Pulaski. The family affair turned volleyball rivalry also features a connection with Whitney Nichols. 

Nichols explained the history. “When Dawn (Kutz) Crawford was a volleyball coach at Elkhart, I was a manager for that team that went to State. So the last time I was involved with IESA at a state tournament, it was with the Chester-East Lincoln assistant coach, Dawn Crawford. Rachel Durchholz and Holly Elias were the other managers on that team. They were fifth graders and I was a third grader. Dawn was the head coach and she took the Elkhart Redbirds to State.” 

Yes, Nichols has been around volleyball for a long time.

Nichols also noted the love and support between not only her and Crawford, but also Panthers head coach Ashley Paulus. “I just love her to death,” said Nichols of Paulus. The two coaches were texting before and after the match even. Nichols was very happy to see Paulus’ team end on a happy note with a trophy at State. 

So to cap it all off, the two teams posed with their trophies inside the Auburn gym following the battle for third and fourth place. 

Congratulations, Honeybears on your third place finish!

Mount Pulaski finished the season with a 14-12 record. 

Stats provided by Coach Whitney Nichols

MP versus Colchester West Prairie Stats:

Alyson Murphy - 12 Kills, 11 Digs, 4 Aces

Audrey Cooper - 29 Assists, 3 Kills, 1 Ace

Elayna Marten - 8 Kills, 5 Digs, 1 Ace

Rhiah Solomon - 3 Kills, 3 Aces

Ella Martin - 4 Kills

Olivia Smith - 3 Kills

Claire Bobell - 1 Ace

Score: MP wins 25-19 and 29-27

MP versus Corpus Christi Stats:

Alyson Murphy - 6 Kills

Audrey Cooper - 11 Assists, 3 Aces

Elayna Marten - 3 Kills, 6 Digs

Rhiah Solomon - 2 Kills, 3 Blocks

Olivia Smith - 3 Blocks

Score: Corpus Christi wins 25-21 and 25-16

MP versus CEL Stats:

Alyson Murphy - 8 Kills, 11 Digs, 6 Aces

Audrey Cooper - 19 Assists, 1 Ace

Elayna Marten - 7 Kills, 4 Digs, 1 Ace

Rhiah Solomon - 7 Kills, 3 Blocks, 1 Ace

Ella Martin - 2 Aces

Addison Brown - 4 Digs

Olivia Smith - 2 Blocks

Score: MP wins 18-25, 25-21 and 25-19

Mount Pulaski Roster

Audrey Cooper

Alyson Murphy

Elayna Marten

Addison Williams

Karsyn Wilham

Addison Brown 

Kya Matson

Jessi Wade

Piper Tyson

Ella Martin

Olivia Smith

Gracie Phillips

Claire Bobell

Addison Maus

Rhiah Solomon

Coaches

Head Coach Whitney Nichols

Assistants 

Chelsey Smock

Maddy Davis 

Lisa Leonard 

[Teena Lowery]