MONTICELLO — Albany entered the week expecting to play four matches in four days. Two of three schools the Comets were supposed to face were forced to quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving just the first opponent of the week — one-loss Monticello — on the schedule.
Monticello (7-1) won in straight sets, 25-14, 25-13, 25-10. Add in that two of Albany’s three senior starters missed the match, the struggle for the visitor’s ability to compete from start to finish became noticeable.
Outside of the first nine points of the night, the Comets never really challenged the Ponies. In the opening set, Albany raced out to a 7-2 lead thanks to Monticello, which struggled to return volleys in the stretch — four times, actually.
A block by Hannah Clark set things in motion with a side-out for the Ponies, and then the Ellie Gustafson show took over. Gustafson, a sophomore and likely contender for conference player of the year, scored five of her team’s next seven points on four kills and an ace.
I felt like there was a shift in control, and that they were starting to kind of take it back on their side.Sydney Bump, Albany coach
“It’s definitely more fun hammering the ball, but I’ll do whatever gets the point for my team,” Ellie Gustafson said.
A 10-1 run put Monticello in charge at 12-8, and while the Comets made as close as a one-point contest at 13-12, the Ponies pranced to the finish on a 12-2 run.
“I felt like there was a shift in control, and that they were starting to kind of take it back on their side,” Albany coach Sydney Bump said.
The second and third sets were all in favor of the home team. Monticello jumped out to a 6-1 lead and a 14-2 run buried Albany. The Comets were noticeably subdued on the court.
“I felt like the JV game was really quiet, and I knew that it was probably going to continue through the varsity games, so I just told them they have to be loud. We have to bring our own energy” because the crowds are not their normal size due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bump said. “We’ve got to make that energy for our side.”
The Ponies led 20-5 at one point, though Albany did close the stretch outscoring the home side 8-5. However, the momentum did not carry over into the third set, as Monticello again led 10-3 early on and closed on a 15-7 run.
“Our goals coming in were for fast transitions, keeping our feet moving … and we also wanted to get excited on big plays,” Monticello coach Rebecca Gustafson said.
She said that the team has been “very COVID-careful” all season, with assistant coach Becky Clark, a Belleville school nurse, the assigned as the team’s “COVID coach.”
“In our huddles we are always standing far apart; we sit far apart; we take two busses to every game. We don’t want to put our health at risk. We try to follow guidelines and keep our kids safe,” coach Gustafson said. “I think the result of that is that we don’t get as excited as we used to. We don’t run to the middle and scream after each point — they’re staying farther apart and I don’t think we’re grabbing that same momentum.
“Our goal tonight was to talk more — to celebrate those big plays and call out more on the court. And I feel like they did that tonight.”
Ellie Gustafson finished the night with 22 kills, 11 digs and five aces. Hannah Clark added six kills and three aces. Katelyn Eyler also had three aces, Macey Grant amassed seven digs and Alexa Siegenthaler (20) and Delenn Gillaspie (12) combined for 32 assists for Monticello.
“Our front row was able to be so aggressive because we were passing and playing well and we were serving tough,” Monticello coach Rebecca Gustafson said. The Ponies had 14 aces to just two missed serves on the night.
We have a lot of girls that worked really hard in the offseason, and I think that has really helped our team.Ellie Gustafson, Monticello sophomore
Sitting at 7-1 on the season is no accident. This is the team’s third year in coach Gustafson’s system, and many of the program’s members play club volleyball as well.
“We have a lot of girls that worked really hard in the offseason, and I think that has really helped our team,” Ellie Gustafson said.
Brianna Dahl led Albany with eight kills, five assists and three blocks. Peyton Pendergrass had seven digs and two aces, and Jada Flannery added two aces.
“I thought Albany was better than when we played them the first time, it’s just that I think we have just improved so much from then too,” coach Gustafson said. “We get stuck in serve receive once in a while, but once we got out of that, we just rolled for the rest of the night.”
Two Six Rivers East teams went into quarantine prior to Monday’s games — Black Hawk and Pecatonica. Albany was supposed to play Pecatonica Oct. 6 and then face Black Hawk in a doubleheader Oct. 8. All three matches were canceled. Monticello was to play Pecatonica Oct. 8 and Black Hawk Oct. 15 in the regular season finale.
The match against Black Hawk, the two-time defending conference champion and the only team to beat Monticello this year, could still be rescheduled.
“We really want to get that W. We want it really bad,” Ellie Gustafson said. “We wanted it last year, but we had to live with the fact that they were just the better team. But this year we think we can compete with them.”
