MONTICELLO — The Ponies believe their volleyball program is on the up-and-up. After a 3-set drubbing at the hands of Black Hawk, Monticello coach Rebecca Gustafson was interested to see how her team would respond against another Six Rivers East power: Argyle.

“I haven’t slept much this week, and neither has (assistant coach) Becky (Clark),” Gustafson said. “(Against Black Hawk), we could have played better, and we could have played worse. We’re just trying to figure out how to get our girls to play consistent.”

Monticello answered the bell against Argyle with a three-game sweep, 25-19, 25-16, 26-24.

“I don’t know what comes first — having fun and getting on a roll, or getting on a roll and having fun. When they do both, we can play really well,” Gustafson said. “They are a fun group, and they are young, so it can be kind of a rollercoaster.”

The match opened with a little more fanfare for the Orioles, as the away team went up 8-5 in the opening minutes. But the Ponies started to find a rhythm, and thanks to a block from freshman Ellie Gustafson and two kills from Maggie Bak, Monticello grabbed a 9-8 advantage. Both teams traded points until the Ponies went on another five-point run to go up 16-12.

Argyle responded in the first set, running off a 6-point run of its own to go up 18-17 thanks in part to three straight Maggie Godfrey aces, forcing Gustafson to call a time out. This time, it was Monticello that turned the tide and outscored Argyle 9-1 to close out the set, with each point getting a louder buzz than the one before thanks to an impressive display from the student section.

“We play in a lot of gyms that have really loud student sections that suck us out of the game, and we are trying to get that going,” Gustafson said. “I was over after the game high-fiving all the boys and thanking them.”

The momentum carried over into the second set for the Ponies, which jumped out to a 9-2 lead and forced Argyle coach Jennifer Green to burn a timeout. 

“There were times where we just shut down. When we stay positive, we can do great things,” Green said.

The momentum for Monticello was not stopped, and the Ponies eventually went up 14-3. Ellie Gustafson had two aces and a kill in the 10-1 run.

“When the girls have fun, it all kind of comes together and they are fun to watch,” coach Gustafson said. “There are a lot of leaders on the court and they are a great mix. I love coaching nights like this.”

The third game was unlike the second, as neither team scored more than three points in a row until late in the set.

Argyle briefly led 8-7, and later 12-10, then 17-13. It appeared the Orioles were about to finally close off a set thanks to back-to-back points on a Grace Ganshert spike kill and a tip kill, which made it 21-15.

“They started tipping, and we had to adjust to that. They started tipping probably 90% of their shots in that third game,” Gustafson said.

Instead, the Ponies rose to the occasion, again. Monticello went on an 11-3 run to close out the set and earn the conference victory.

“I knew it was going to be a tough night, and I knew Monticello would be good. Hopefully we can get them next time,” Green said.

Argyle was led by Ganshert’s 11 kills, while Megan Johnson dished out 18 assists and Claudia Miller had 10 digs.

“Monticello is a good team. They have a lot of good players. I just don’t think we played to the best of our ability tonight. We were just off. Hopefully it’s something we can learn from and get better,” Green said.

The Orioles have just one four-year player — Miller. The other seniors on the roster, including Addisyn Noble, Kyah Hendrickson and Miriam Guida, are all first-year players. Argyle also has just one junior in the program — Rachel Gilbertson. The rest of the varsity roster is comprised of five sophomores.

“We have a mix of girls that are young and still learning, and there are some that are a very talented group. We just have to get more experience,” Green said.

Ellie Gustafson finished with 10 kills and three blocks. Mackie Errthum finished with eight kills for Monticello, Emily Grant had 12 assists, Sara Blumer finished with 11 digs and Alexa Siegenthaler added three aces.

Rebecca Gustafson has tried to change the entire culture in the Monticello program since taking over before the 2018 season.

She’s tried to keep her practices loose and fun, while also teaching her players how to compete. Several drills during practice may not have anything to do with volleyball, but are instead team-bonding and competition-based drills. Gustafson said she’s seen the players come together because of it.

On the court, her players have also bought in to the strategy of “win the point.”

“Win the point — no matter what the score is, win this point and chip away at it. That has really helped our team dig out of some homes since I took over last year. When it gets to 24-24, win the point,” said Gustafson, who added that any cliché involving “getting over the hump” was changed in team vocabulary to “camel it.”

“We call those ‘camels’ — they don’t like it when we say ‘over the hump,’ so we have a list of things we call ‘camels.’ (Camels) are what’s in your head,” Gustafson said.

The program had just one player in club volleyball when Gustafson arrived, and last winter that offseason dedication jumped to 10 players.

“We just want to build a program. We’ve got enough girls in the program for a ‘C’ squad,” Gustafson said.

Adding extra interest into her program, Gustafson is trying to get the student section more involved. In order to add fun and excitement to the program, she said her son, who is a junior this fall, has been trying to negotiate for a co-ed game at the end of the year.

“I haven’t agreed to it yet — I don’t want anyone to get hurt because then it’s basketball season,” Gustafson said while laughing.