MONTICELLO — Making the whole place shimmer, Monticello head coach Ali Zimmerman walked into Elmer Gymnasium wearing a sparkly suit jacket. It was extra motivation for her team’s Six Rivers East Conference matchup against Argyle on Oct. 10
Coming off a five-set victory over Pecatonica the week prior, combined with Senior Night and a strong student section, Monticello swept Argyle 25-22, 26-24, 25-22 to jump the Orioles in league standings.
“It’s every little thing,” senior Dalana Trumpy said. “Coach Ali wearing that blazer. The student section has been coming out on top this year and been really supportive of us. Coming happy and excited to practice. All of that piled together makes everything come together.”
In the teams’ first meeting on Sept. 17, Argyle (8-7, 6-4) won a five-set marathon 20-25, 25-16, 25-19, 22-25, 21-19.
“They weren’t as aggressive and consistent as they were last time. I think we struggled with confidence tonight,” Argyle head coach Jen Green said. “Monticello is a great team; they’ve got some great players and they played very well.”
Monticello (10-7, 7-3) was the first to five points, as Sadie Wilkins opened with a kill off an Oriole free ball. Kennadee Johnson followed with an ace. Trumpy had the next three Pony points with a mix of swing attacks and tips.
But two strong rotations for Argyle — with Kylie Butler and Mya McNett serving — made them the first to 10 and 15. A block by Brooke Wellnitz and McNett tied the set at 9-9, and Braelynn Holz’s attack error gave Argyle its first lead.
Trumpy knotted the set at 10-10 with a tip, but Wellnitz took advantage of a Pony free ball for a kill. With another kill and solo block from Wellnitz, Zimmerman called her first timeout with Monticello trailing 15-10.
McNett bailed the Ponies out of that rotation with a service error. That’s when Monticello went on its own run with Madi Hauser at the line. Trumpy was key in the rally with a tip kill and block of Wellnitz. On Wellnitz’s second attack attempt, she sent one deep beyond the backline.
This time, Green called a timeout.
Monticello and Argyle then tied the set up seven times, as late as 22-22. But the Ponies ended the game on a four-point run. Trumpy put it away with a kill just inside the backline.
In the second game, Argyle was the first two five points, capitalizing on aces. Butler tallied the first point with a serve that landed untouched between Audrianna Schraufnagel and Holz. McNett also targeted Holz on her serve for an ace, and Holmes’ serve tipped the net and landed right in front of Holz, giving the Orioles a 5-2 lead. They extended it to 10-7 thanks to a double block from Brinley Meinert and Lexi Wonders and yet another ace from Butler.
Monticello was able to come back with a four-point rally. Jillian Ryan and Holz blocked Wellnitz to tie the set at 12, and the pair stuffed McNett for a 14-12 lead.
Although the Ponies and Orioles tied the game up six times down the stretch, Monticello was the first to 15 and 20 points. And just as they did in the first set, the Ponies ended on a four-point rally. Three of those points came on Oriole errors, but Ryan hit a soft shot just over the blocker and in the front row for the game-winning kill.
“We are used to” playing from behind, Zimmerman said. “The motto the last half of the season has been that good teams win volleyball games but great teams make comebacks and win. If they are down three or four, I’m not upset or worried. They shouldn’t be either, and they need to gain that confidence and momentum on the court.”
And that’s exactly what Monticello did in set three. The Ponies got into a hole, as Argyle’s big hitters, Wellnitz and Butler got hot. The pair accounted for six of the team’s first 10 points. Monticello went on a small run with aces from Schraufnagel, but Argyle kept pace with four more kills from Wellnitz.
“Of course they got good kills, they are good players,” Wilkins said of her opponents Butler and Wellnitz. “We just had to stay up and confident.”
Even though Argyle went on a five-point run to take a 22-20 lead, Monticello didn’t waver. After a timeout, the Ponies had their own five-point rally. Trumpy’s tip sent Wilkins to the line, where she served up the final four points.
“I was a little nervous because at Pec, I was there in the fifth set, and I shanked it right into the net,” Wilkins said. “So, I was nervous, but I had to keep calm and serve safe to start off with. Once I got more confident, I served it a little stronger and harder. Ali always says to serve safe and play strong on defense, so that’s what I did.”
Trumpy led the Pony offense with 11 kills. She was also perfect from the line with two aces and no errors in 20 attempts. Johnson distributed the offense with 16 assists. Four different players had double-digit kills — Johnson (11), Trumpy (15), Schraufnagel (13) and Holz (10).
As they have all season, Wellnitz and Butler led the Oriole offense with a combined 28 kills. McNett tallied 26 of the team’s 34 assists. Brynn Harris and Wellnitz paced the team with 16 digs each, followed by Butler with 10.
