MHS gets tourney in, goes 3-1

     While the Monticello High School volleyball team had two home matches and a home junior varsity tournament shut down due to the quarantine of more than 140 district students, the Panthers were able to get one event in prior to the postponements/cancellations.

     That was the Midland Tournament Sept. 5, which maybe should have been called the Midland/Monticello Tournament since five of the teams came to Monticello to play while the other five played in Wyoming.

     Thus there was no overall champion, as each site simply hosted a five-team round robin. It proved to be successful for the Panthers, who defeated three of their four opponents.

     Monticello (5-3) lost to Springville 13-21, 13-21, but then defeated three other foes. The Panthers swept Bellevue Marquette 21-13, 21-15; pulled out a three-set win over Cascade, 21-17, 21-23, 15-10; and then swept Central Elkader 21-16, 21-9.

     “Going 3-1 on the day is a pretty good day,” Monticello coach Stacie Breitbach said. “Springville played really well against us, but I would have liked to play them closer.”

     Against Springville, Monticello totaled 30 digs, led by DeLainy Fellinger and Tori McDonald with eight apiece. Beka Prull made four blocks, and Keziah McQuillen had two.

     The Panthers totaled 23 kills against Marquette, led by Prull with six, McDonald and McQuillen with five apiece, Emma Hynick and Madison Butterworth with three each. Mallory Steiner made 12 assists, and McDonald had seven. Fellinger had eight digs, and McDonald had six. McQuillen served 10-for-10.

     After Cascade tied the Panthers’ third match with a 23-21 win, Monticello bounced back to defeat the Cougars 15-10 and earn the victory.

     “I liked how competitive we were against Cascade,” Breitbach said. “We had our most balanced offense against them, and did a really nice job of covering their pushes and tips. The players have a ‘can-do’ attitude, and it is so fun to coach.”

     Hynick had 10 kills and seven digs in the Cascade match. Bronwyn Hodge and Prull had six kills apiece. Monticello had two double-digit assist leaders, Steiner with 11 and McDonald with 10. McDonald also served 10-for-10. Defensively, McQuillen had nine digs and McDonald had eight.

     In the final match, the Panthers served nine aces in the win over Central Elkader. Steiner had four of those, and McDonald had two. Hynick had six of the team’s 21 kills, McDonald had five, Hodge and Prull had four apiece. Steiner made 10 assists, and McDonald had six. Fellinger again led the team in digs with six.

     The quarantines caused the cancellation of a Sept. 8 home match against Center Point-Urbana, and the Sept. 10 home contest against Anamosa was postponed. The Anamosa one was rescheduled for Oct. 13, for all except the middle school teams.

     “At one point in early July, I didn’t even think we would have this chance to play, so I am extremely grateful that we still get to,” Breitbach said. “We will just continue to move forward on trying to get better. Our girls have shown nothing but positivity. The captains will need to continue to lead and help us get through any adversity that gets thrown our way.”

Sept. 5

Midland Tournament

(at Monticello)

Pool play

Springville 2, Monticello 0

MONTICELLO                            Kl     Bl    Dg   Ac

DeLainy Fellinger                         0      0      8      0

Emma Hynick                              1      1      2      1

Tori McDonald                             3      0      8      0

Bronwyn Hodge                           2      0      0      0

Beka Prull                                    3      4      1      0

Mallory Steiner                            0      0      5      1

Madison Butterworth                   1      1      1      0

Keziah McQuillen                        2      2      5      0

Piper Hansen                               0      0      0      0

Jaelyn Aitchison                           0      0      0      0

Totals                                         12     8     30     2

Assists – Steiner 5, McDonald 4, Hynick 1.

Serving leaders – McDonald 6-6,

McQuillen 5-5.

Set scores

Springville                   21   21

Monticello                   13   13

Monticello 2, Bel. Marquette 0

MONTICELLO                            Kl     Bl    Dg   Ac

DeLainy Fellinger                         0      0      8      1

Emma Hynick                               3      0      3      0

Tori McDonald                              5      0      6      1

Bronwyn Hodge                           1      0      1      0

Beka Prull                                    6      1      0      3

Mallory Steiner                            0      0      5      3

Madison Butterworth                   3      1      1      0

Keziah McQuillen                        5      0      4      0

Jaelyn Aitchison                          0      0      0      0

Totals                                         23     2     26     8

Assists – Steiner 12, McDonald 7,

Fellinger 1.

Serving leaders – McQuillen 10-10,

Steiner 10-11, McDonald 5-5.

Set scores

Bel. Marquette            13   15

Monticello                   21   21

Monticello 2, Cascade 1

MONTICELLO                            Kl     Bl   Dg    Ac

DeLainy Fellinger                         0      0      5      1

Emma Hynick                              10     0      7      0

Tori McDonald                              1      1      8      1

Bronwyn Hodge                            6      1      0      0

Beka Prull                                     6      1      1      2

Mallory Steiner                             1      0      2      2

Madison Butterworth                    0      0      2      0

Keziah McQuillen                         1      0      9      1

Totals                                          25     3     34     7

Assists – Steiner 11, McDonald 10,

McQuillen 2, Fellinger 1.

Serving leaders – McDonald 10-10,

McQuillen 13-15.

Set scores

Cascade                          17   23   10

Monticello                        21   21   15

Monticello 2, Central Elkader 0

MONTICELLO                            Kl    Bl    Dg    Ac

DeLainy Fellinger                         0      0      6      0

Emma Hynick                               6      0      2      1

Tori McDonald                              5      0      0      2

Bronwyn Hodge                           4      0      1      0

Beka Prull                                    4      1      0      1

Mallory Steiner                             0      0      4      4

Madison Butterworth                    0      0      0      0

Keziah McQuillen                         2      0      4      1

Piper Hansen                               0      0      0      0

Jaelyn Aitchison                           0      0      0      0

Emma Sperfslage                         0      0      1      0

Jordan Fangmann                         0      0      1      0

Lacie Koppes                                0      0      0      0

Totals                                           21    1     19      9

Assists – Steiner 10, McDonald 6,

Fellinger 2, Hynick 1, Hodge 1,

McQuillen 1.

Serving leaders – Hynick 7-7, Prull 6-7.

Set scores

Central Elkader          16     9

Monticello                   21   21