NEW PALESTINE — An opening set loss, a late deficit in the fifth set, and even a delay due to a fire alarm while they had momentum, didn’t make it easy for New Palestine’s volleyball team.
But on Senior Night, and against a Hancock County rival, the Dragons wouldn’t let any of those things stop them from a thrilling five-set victory to close out the season.
At home Thursday night, New Palestine (25-5, 4-3) defeated Mt. Vernon (14-12, 4-3) 3-2.
“If you’re a New Pal Dragon, beating Mt. Vernon is the pinnacle of your season,” New Palestine head coach Kelli Gabehart said. “To win on Senior Night, and to win a conference match like this just means so much to these girls.”
It took three sets going to extra points for the New Palestine win.
The Dragons took the third set 26-24, and the Marauders won the fourth 28-26, but it was New Palestine getting the last say with an 18-16 win in final set of the match.
In a set that saw six lead changes, it took a comeback midway through the set to get New Palestine back within reach. The Dragons also needed a pair of sideouts on match points to stay alive.
Down 9-6, New Palestine reeled off six straight points to grab a 12-9 lead.
Following a kill from Mt. Vernon setter Ava Whitmore, the Marauders regained the lead 14-13. New Palestine grabbed a point to extend the match.
A Sierra Holverson kill set up another match point for the Marauders, but a ball blocked out of bounds by Mt. Vernon extended the match once again.
Natalie Sevier recorded one of her career-high 20 kills to give the Dragons the lead, and a block by Hayden Ramsey sealed the win.
“I think it gives us some motivation going forward, but it also gives us some frustration too. We all seemed pretty frustrated in the locker room,” Mt. Vernon head coach Samantha Grider said. “We all think we should have had it, and it shouldn’t have even gone five sets.”
With the adrenaline and the thrill of Senior Night activities still on the minds of New Palestine players, it was Mt. Vernon jumping out to the early lead, and eventual first set win.
An Easton Wampler block began the night and kickstarted a 5-3 Mt. Vernon lead.
The Marauders grew the lead to 18-13 later in the set behind kills from Olivia Johnson, Sophie Damer, and Holverson.
Two Aubry Dowling digs on a long rally led to a Whitmore kill on the 23rd point, and another Wampler block and a Dowling ace closed out the opening set win 25-19.
“I think Mt. Vernon played really, really well in that first set. The emotion of Senior Night kind of got to us I think, but in that second set we bounced back and came out really strong,” Gabehart said. “Just really proud of them. They never give up.”
The next two sets went to the Dragons but in different fashions.
Three Sevier kills helped New Palestine coast to a 25-12 second set victory.
“Our serve receive kind of fell apart and we stopped communicating,” Grider said. ”We just didn’t have that fire from the first set.”
For the go-ahead third set win, the Marauders made it much tougher.
New Palestine held the lead until near the midway point of the set when Wampler’s fourth kill in the last five Mt. Vernon points gave the Marauders a 12-11 lead.
Two Alivia Morgan kills and a pair of blocks by Johnson helped the Mt. Vernon lead grow to 17-13.
A Kyndra Monteith ace tied it at 20, and a Ramsey block tied it at 22. There were ties at 23 and 24 before the Dragons could finally take the lead.
A ball blocked out of bounds by the Marauders made it 25-24 in favor of New Palestine and an MV attack hit out sealed the Dragons win.
Similarly to the third, the fourth set went beyond the normal 25 points, but this time a late Dragons comeback was thwarted by Mt. Vernon.
The Marauders held leads of 8-4, 16-8, and 23-16 before the Dragons began their push.
Behind two aces from Monteith, they reeled off eight straight points to take a 24-23 lead, but it was the Marauders turn for the late heroics.
Wampler kills tied the match at 25 and 26 before a Damer ace gave Mt. Vernon the lead and set up the 28-26 win.
“I almost thought that fourth set was out of reach for us, but I always tell them, one point at a time, just make runs,” Gabehart said. “They’ve truly done that all season long. There are so many games where we have fought back from behind and I think that kind of gave us some confidence and momentum into the fifth set.”
Sevier led the Dragons with 20 kills, senior Bella Brownfield added 17 kills and 16 digs, senior Rachel Burke had 10 kills, and Samantha Gooding tallied 52 assists.
For Mt. Vernon, Wampler had 14 kills, and Morgan had 10.
New Palestine’s next game will be its Pendleton Heights Sectional opener Tuesday against Richmond at 6 p.m.
The Marauders will close out the regular season this weekend at the Carmel Invitational before playing Greenfield-Central in the second first-round sectional game — approximately 7:30 p.m. — Tuesday at Pendleton Heights.
