From Coach Bonnie Keepes:
Mt. Carmel Jr. Aces took 2nd in Albion Invitational
The 7th grade team started In the morning with pool play against Albion. They won the first set in commanding style 25-11, the second set Albion was able to capitalize off our errors, but the girls fought hard for it, and came back from a 19-24 deficit to win 26-24! The second match the girls won big against Red Hill 25-4, 25-6. The last pool play match of the day was against Fairfield. Our girls continued playing well, and won 25-13, 25-20. Next they headed to the single court gym for the championship game against Jasper Geoff. You could see this team had solid skills, being coached by Fairfield’s high school coach Chet Snyder. Kenley was pumping them up, but I think a bit of nerves came into play. The girls made more errors that match. Jasper Geoff was able to minimize theirs and took the match with set scores of 19-25, 19-25.
The 8th grade team started their tournament at one o’clock against Olney. I was very happy to see the girls start out very aggressive the first match. They won in big fashion 25-7, 25-15. I told them the first set could set the tone for the whole day, and they answered. Next up the girls faced Red Hill and won 25-16, 25-8. The 3rd match of the day was against West Salem. This team was stronger than the first two of the day. The girls showed they could scramble more this game, picking up some tough balls and hustling to get everything up. They took the first set 25-19, but made more serving and receiving errors the second, set dropping it 17-25. The girls showed they really wanted to be in the Championship. They started the 3rd set very strong having West Salem down 18-3 at one point, and finishing 25-13 to win the match.
Coming into the Championship we knew Fairfield was going to be solid, with many of their girls playing travel ball. Heading to the single gym the girls were excited. We were neck and neck the whole first set to 20-20 when Fairfield was able to put up a 5 point run winning 20-25. I was happy overall with how we played the first set. The second set I could see some frustration creeping in on some. We made some silly errors that we can’t afford in a championship set. Things like that rev up the opposing teams momentum, and keep us down. Fairfield took the second set, to win the match 16-25.
I was very proud to see both teams take second. Of course we wanted first, but with 7 teams in each bracket it was good to be close to the top. If you don’t win, you learn! There are some big things we learned from the final sets, that will help us get better this season.
7th stats vs Albion, Alivia Peach 2 aces, 3 kills, 1 dig, Journey Loudermilk 4 aces, 2 kills, Quincy Keepes 8 aces, 4 assist, Avery Coston 1 ace, 2 kills, Zoie Randall 4 kills, 1 dig, 1 block, Bayley Andrews 2 Assists, Addison Mobley 1 dig, Ella Turner 1 ace, Ryleigh Gill 1 dig.
7th vs Red Hill Alivia Peach 4 aces, Journey Loudermilk 13 aces, Quincy Keepes 3 aces, 2 assist, Avery Coston 1 kill, Zoie Randall 6 aces, 1 kill, Bayley Andrews 1 ace, Graycee Haggard 1 kill.
7th vs Fairfield Alivia Peach 1 kill, 1 dig, Journey Loudermilk 5 aces, 3 kills, Quincy Keepes 5 aces, 5 assist, Zoie Randall 9 aces, 2 kills, Ella Turner 1 ace, 2 kills
7th vs Jasper Geoff Alivia Peach 1 ace, 1 kill, 1 dig, Journey Loudermilk 1 ace, 1 dig, Quincy Keepes 3 aces, 2 assist, Avery Coston 1 ace, 2 kills, 2 blocks, Zoie Randall 1 ace, 2 kills,1 block, Ella Turner 1 ace, 1 kill, 2 blocks Chloe Toutloff 1 dig.
8th stats vs Olney Lyla Keepes 4 aces, 2 kills, 1 dig, Kyleigh Smith 7 ace, 2 kills, 2 blocks, Evie Sellers 7 aces, 1 kill, Riley Hershey 1 aces, 1 kill, Kinley Harris 4 assists, 2 kill, Leah Lewis 3 aces, 4 assists, 2 digs.
8th vs Red Hill Lyla Keepes 4 aces, Evie Sellers 3 kills, Riley Hershey 5 aces, 1 kill, Kinley Harris 5 aces, 1 assist, 1 kill, Leah Lewis 2 aces, 4 assists, Mercedes Dillard 1 ace, Brynlie Mounts 1 dig, Madi Riggs, 1 kill, Leila Sweeney 4 aces.
8th vs West Salem Lyla Keepes 5 aces, 3 kills, 2 digs, Kyleigh Smith 5 aces, 4 kills, 3 digs, 1 block, Evie Sellers 1 ace, 5 kills, 1 block, Riley Hershey 7 aces, 1 kill, 2 blocks, Kinley Harris 4 aces, 6 assists, 1 kill, 1 block, Leah Lewis 9 assists, 1 dig, Mercedes Dillard 1 kill, 1 dig, Mylee Farmer 1 dig.
8th vs Fairfield Lyla Keepes 5 aces, 1 kill, 2 digs, Kyleigh Smith 2 aces, 3 kills, 1 dig, 1 block, Evie Sellers 1 ace, 1 kill, Riley Hershey 2 kills, Kinley Harris 1 ace, 2 assists, 1 kill, 1 block, Leah Lewis 4 assists.
Tonight the girls face Parkview middle school at home with 6th grade starting at 5:00.
Photo Credit Nichole Loudermilk
