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Piper Price bumps a ball to her setter in Monday night's game.

During Monday night’s invitational, Mount Vernon’s JV volleyball team won their match against Cedar Rapids Prairie. The game only lasted two sets. The Mustangs won both, for their second sweep of the night, the first being their match against Beckman Catholic.
Mount Vernon started the game off strong, taking the first set 21-11. Emma Meester, a sophomore right side hitter, gained her third hit, and first kill of the night late, to end the first set for the Mustangs.
The second set was much closer, with three early lead changes. However Mount Vernon took control of the game late, and won the set 21-14. Junior outside hitter Piper Price played late in the set. “We came out in the second set expecting to win, and we played down to their level,” she said. “We just had to get focused in and do our thing and then we were fine.”
The set ended with a kill from Parker Whitham, a sophomore right side hitter, giving Mount Vernon a 2-0 match win.
The Mustangs’ offense was solid, racking up 20 total kills. Dani Pitts, a senior right side hitter, led the team with 7. Coming in a close second was Brooke Ellyson, a freshman outside hitter, with 6 kills. Ellyson also led in blocks with 4.
Mount Vernon tallied 7 blocks in total Monday night. Madeline Miller, a sophomore setter came up with a solo block and one assisted block with Maddie Plotz, a junior middle blocker. Parker Whitham also contributed a solo block.
The Mustang’s defense was a big part of their success, with 27 digs in just the 2 sets. Kiki Blythe, a senior libero led the team in digs with 10, followed closely by McKenzie Rentschler, a junior defensive specialist with 5.

According to Rentschler, preparation was the difference. “We knew what we needed to do,” she said. “We just came out prepared and executed.”
After the Mustangs’ win against Prairie, they went on to win their last game of the night. The JV volleyball team wrapped up their season on Tuesday night. The Varsity girls play their next tournament on Saturday, Oct.10 at 8:30 am.