Five area seniors compete in annual Southeast Iowa Volleyball Classic

Five volleyball players from Mt. Pleasant, Winfield-Mt. Union and New London will compete in the 18th Annual Southeast Iowa Volleyball Classic on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 7 pm.

The match will be played at Fairfield High School, and it features the top high school senior volleyball players from southeast Iowa.

Selected players were first nominated by their coach, placed on a ballot, and then voted on by the varsity volleyball coaches of the Southeast Conference, Southeast Iowa Super Conference and Burlington High School.

From Mt. Pleasant, Taylor Shull was selected; from New London, Olivia Lounsbury and Caitlin Rice; and from W-MU, Kassidy McLaughlin will be competing.

Shull, a hitter for the Panthers, had 134 kills this season. She put up 50 total blocks: 35 solo and 15 assisted.

Lounsbury claimed 157 kills in her final campaign as a Tiger hitter. She led her team with 43 blocks on the season, all of them solo.

Rice, a New London libero, had a team-high 442 digs on the year ? an average of 4.51 per set. She served at a 94 percent efficiency, and had 40 aces.

McLaughlin, the W-MU libero, had 290 digs this season, averaging 3.12 per set. She served at a 96 percent efficiency ? going 281-292 on the season ? and had 35 aces.

Shull will play on the red team, which will be coached by Ashley Bartels from Pekin and Mike Helling from Ft. Madison.

Tiger teammates Lounsbury and Rice will be on opposite sides of the net for this exhibition game, Lounsbury joining Shull on the red team, and Rice playing for the blue team.

McLaughlin will also play for blue, which is coached by Jerald Harter from Cardinal and Corina Schropp from West Burlington.