Game one didn’t start off at all like Monticello’s Charlotte Devine wanted it to.
“I think we have a lot of potential and I think it was somewhat of a lack of focus in the first game,” Devine said. “That kind of snapped us out of it though.”
The senior hitter couldn’t find a rhythm, and tallied seven attacking errors in just the opening frame.
But she flipped it from there and finished with 11 kills and nine digs on the night to help Monticello hold off a scrappy William Monroe squad 3-2 for the second time in a week.
“We’re very young and so we have some inconsistency,” said Monticello coach John Mitchem. “We start two freshman and have one senior on the court so that’s something we’ve been searching for.”
Monroe snagged the early momentum with a game one victory 25-20 before Monticello rebounded with two-straight victories, winning convincingly twice, 25-13 and 25-19. But the Mustangs stumbled in what could’ve been a decisive game four and the Dragons took advantage, winning 25-17 to force game five.
After Monticello dominated game five last week in the team’s first meeting that the Mustangs also eked out 3-2, Monroe didn’t go quietly this time around.
“We let it go in game five last week it was 15-5, so (this time) to have it tight and down to the wire, we’re just going to keep getting a little bit better,” said first-year William Monroe coach Ken Lawson.
The Dragons couldn’t find an answer for Devine in the final stages of the match though as she had five of her 11 kills in the fifth game that closed out the win for Monroe 15-12.
Monticello got solid play out of first-year setter Allie Perez as she racked up four aces and dished out 38 assists on the night. Outside of Devine, Perez set the table for Zimako Chuks, Kaona Ayers and Lyra Payne. Chuks finished with nine total kills while Ayers and Payne had eight each.
“Last week was tough for us,” Mitchem said. “We played three matches and then a tournament all day Saturday so these girls are drained. Now we’ve got some time to lick our wounds a little before we get ready for district play.”
Trystam Carr finished with 13 digs to bolster the Mustangs’ back line play.
Rachael Faris led Monroe with six kills while Olivia Shifflett and McKayla Woodridge tallied five kills each. Kelsey Shifflett rang up three aces for the Dragons.
