Lady Mt'neers fall in district championship

The Lady Mt’neers ended their 2022 volleyball campaign Tuesday night as the second-seeded Seneca Lady Indians defeated the Mt. Vernon squad in four sets, 3-1. The loss follows wins against Cassville in the opening round of district play, and top seed Aurora on Monday.
After a convincing three-set sweep over Cassville last Thursday, the Lady Mt’neers continued their postseason quest to Cape Girardeau Monday night against the Rival Lady Houn's. Sophomore Cheyenne Bieber played well beyond her experience, accounting for 22 kills on the night as the Lady Mt’neers upset Aurora three sets to zero.
The win set up a district championship showdown with Seneca on Tuesday. The Lady Mt’neers were lethal from the service line accumulating eight aces including two from freshman duo Camryn Cornell and Averee Swillum along with two from sophomore Macie West. Bieber was also a force once again at the net, totaling 21 kills as Mt. Vernon jumped to a 25-23 opening set win. However, the experience of the veteran Lady Indians squad would ultimately be the difference as the second and third set were extremely competitive, but Seneca came out on top 25-23 and 25-20 to take a 2-1 lead over Mt. Vernon. The Lady Mt’neers struggled to get any momentum in the fourth and final set, and a 25-16 win for Seneca was the last play for the Lady Mt’neers in their 2022 season.
The future is bright, however, as Mt. Vernon graduates only one starter in Jordan Duncan. Also graduating is Nina Cowherd, Jenna Delay and Caley Rogers.
“We just gained a huge asset for next season! When you have never been in a season ending game, it is really hard to understand how hard it is to prepare mentally.” Coach Bridgette Schmutz said. “This class has passed on the ability to be selfless. They took these underclassmen under their wing and were fantastic teammates and really showed the younger girls that a team has roles. Sure, someone is going to lead the way in kills and someone is going to be the Libero and so on. This group taught them how to buy into their roles.”
The Lady Mt’neers finish the rebuilding season 17-14-2 with a district runner-up to their name in a year where five of the six starters for most of the year were freshmen and sophomores. The future is bright for Mt. Vernon volleyball and expectations should be high moving into 2023.