FORTVILLE — With revenge on its mind, Mt. Vernon took care of business in Tuesday’s showdown between Hancock County, Hoosier Heritage Conference and Class 4A Sectional 9 rivals.
Favorites to win the sectional a year ago, Mt. Vernon was upset by Greenfield-Central in an early round game of last year’s tournament, and the Cougars went on to win the sectional title.
Though the stakes weren’t as high on Tuesday, the Marauders hadn’t forgotten what happened last season and took care of the Cougars, 3-0, at Mt. Vernon High School.
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The Marauders won by set scores of 25-18, 25-18, 25-20, improving to 13-2 on the season and 3-1 in the HHC. Greenfield-Central fell to 11-5 and 1-3.
“They knew they blew an opportunity last year,” Mt. Vernon coach Eric Bulmahn said of his team. “They didn’t take them seriously. Hopefully, they have grown and matured from that and no matter who is on the other side of the court, they are going to respect them and play their best game.”
Bulmahn didn’t say his team played its best game on Tuesday, but his team was in control most of the match.
In taking a 2-0 lead in sets, the Marauders went on a pair of mid-set runs to gain some breathing room.
In the opener, with a 7-6 lead, Mt. Vernon went on a 5-0 run, leading to a Cougar timeout.
During the rally, Cecilia Bulmahn had a pair of service aces, while Claire Ertel had one of her team-high 11 kills. Greenfield-Central would not get closer than four points the remainder of the set.
In the second, the Marauders extended a 9-8 lead with another 5-0 run. It started with a pair of Greenfield-Central attack errors and included a pair of Ertel kills and one from Cecilia Bulmahn.
Mt. Vernon led by as much as nine points in the set (21-12).
“We knew they were going to come out with a little bit of revenge after knocking them out of the sectional (last year),” Greenfield-Central coach Ron Heck said. “We definitely knew they were coming out with fire, but we had way too many self-inflicted wounds.”
Greenfield-Central got off to a great start in the third, scoring the first four points. Mt. Vernon rallied again, but after nine ties, the Cougars, following an Ava Antic kill, took a 19-18 lead.
Coach Bulmahn called a timeout. He stepped out of the huddle and let his team figure it out on its own.
The Marauders did just that.
After the timeout, they went on a 6-0 run to take a 24-19 lead.
“Before the game, we were even like, we know what we did last year. We can’t have that same mindset,” senior defensive specialist Lillie Perdue said, noting fellow senior Sophie Schultz got the team motivated in the final timeout.
“Last year we were cocky and kind of took them easy,” Perdue added. “I think before this game we got focused, really paid attention, watched film and were ready to go.”
Heck liked what he saw from his team for most of that third set. They just couldn’t close the door in the battle of rivals.
“We fought extremely hard that third set,” Heck said. “They called timeout, went on the run and that kind of deflated what little bit of energy we had left.”
Energy can drain when HHC teams go at it. The conference is loaded with talented teams. Yorktown is ranked No. 1 in Class 4A and New Castle is No. 3. They are both defending state champions — New Castle won in Class 3A last season.
Mt. Vernon has been ranked in the top 10 this season and Pendleton Heights and Greenfield-Central have flirted with Top 10 and Top 15 rankings all season. Delta and New Palestine also are conference clubs with storied pasts.
“I introduced myself to the Yorktown coach (Stephanie Bloom) back in March/April at a club tournament,” Heck, who is in his first season at Greenfield-Central, said. “She said nice to meet you, ‘Welcome to the toughest conference in the state.’ She didn’t lie to me.”
Both Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central have tough conference games ahead. The Marauders take on New Castle, who beat Yorktown on Tuesday, on Thursday, while the Cougars have a league match the same night against Shelbyville.
On Tuesday, Antic led all hitters with 12 kills. Cecilia Bulmahn had 10 with just one error in 18 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage.
Mt. Vernon’s Olivia Yeley had three blocks, including one solo.
