Coming off of a tough loss to Fluvanna County on Tuesday, the Monticello Mustangs needed a home victory over Goochland County if they hoped to keep pace with the top half of the in the Jefferson District.
“We were coming of a really tough loss,” said Mustangs senior Christine Archer. “We just wanted to come in with a lot of enthusiasm and fight for every point.”
While Goochland scratched and clawed the Mustangs for every point, Monticello was able to pull out in front each time to win 3-0, 25-23, 25-18, 25-20.
“Tonight was nice because we were able to get a lot of players some quality minutes,” said Mustangs coach John Mitchem. “It was nice to get those contributions. This week he talked about aggressive serving and tonight we had some kids who had never served in a game before and they did a great job.”
The Bulldogs led all three games early, but midway through each match Monticello either took the lead or tied the game. Late in game one and two the two teams were within a couple of points of each other but the Mustangs were able to norrowly finish off the Goochland both times.
“We’ve had a problem finishing,” said Bulldogs coach Bert Stanley. “We’ve been talking about it in practice. We’re trying to make sure the kids understand how important it is in a 20-20 game to not shoot yourself in the foot. I’m still proud of this team. We played hard, but Monticello just played a littler harder.”
Archer moved the Mustangs along with 10 kills while Amanda Powell put up 21 assists and Erica Watson led the defense with 15 digs. During the third and final game, Lynley Price led Monticello on a rally from behind during which she had 12 straight service points.
For Goochland, Morgan Thompson contributed 10 kills. Kristina Donaldson and Ashley Harris each had 12 digs. Harris also chipped in nine service points and a pair of aces.
Monticello (5-3, 2-1) travels to play Western on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Goochland (2-7, 1-2) plays host to Fluvanna County also on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
