Mt. Pleasant volleyball season ends in Oskaloosa

OSKALOOSA — It wasn’t a win for the Mt. Pleasant volleyball team in its Class 4A Region 8 semifinal, but for Coach David Streeter, it was another reason for the Panthers to hold their heads high.

After upsetting Burlington in Tuesday’s quarterfinals, the Panthers gave the Indians a sweat in the final two sets of a 25-10, 25-19, 25-17 defeat on Thursday.

It was quite the change after a disastrous second day of the Southeast Conference tournament left the Panthers in last place and reeling ahead of the postseason, but Streeter says his squad saved its best volleyball for last.

“I told them, I was waiting all season for it to show up,” Streeter said. “It showed up at the beginning of this week when we beat Burlington, and to see it continue tonight was awesome.”

After a tough first set, Mt. Pleasant took an early lead in the second, holding a 7-5 advantage after 12 points. Oskaloosa took the lead, but a Tristian Shull ace had the Panthers tied 12-12 midway through the game.

Mt. Pleasant had the game within two as late as 20-18, but Oskaloosa ended the set on a 5-1 run.

Mt. Pleasant put together even a bigger threat in the third. The Panther freshman were able to show off as Addison Clark started things off with a kill, an Alex Scott gave Mt. Pleasant its biggest lead, at 7-3.

Despite a pair of Emma Starr kills, and one from Andrea Lopreato on the second-to-last point of the night, Oskaloosa had enough juice to score another comeback victory and end the Panthers’ season with a 25-17 third-set win.

It was the final game for a group of seasons that has seen a number of successes over the past few years, including two conference championships in 2020 and 2021.

“They've built it,” Streeter said. “They've shown where you can get to, and it gives the younger kids something to shoot for.”