Mt. Pleasant volleyball tastes revenge

MT. PLEASANT — The last game of the Mt. Pleasant volleyball team’s 2020 campaign ended in a regional tournament sweep at Southeast Conference rival Burlington. On Monday night, the Panthers faced that same team in their first game back but with a very different result.

The Panthers pushed past the Grayhounds 25-18 and 25-20 in their home triangular. They were upended by Muscatine, falling 25-20, 25-17 to end the day with a split.

The game against Burlington was one that would give Mt. Pleasant a look at a team that has been one of the best in the SEC since joining. The Panthers answered the call, leading start to finish in the first set and staging a second-half comeback in the second.

“It builds quite a bit of confidence in them,” said Panther head coach David Streeter. “They came out energetic, and that's a big key.”

The Panthers started the first set on a 5-0 run. A few points later, Regan Seberg’s ace pushed the lead back to five, at 7-2.

Mt. Pleasant cruised in the opening set, partially thanks to a flurry of kills from Kenna Lamm, who led the team on the day in that category.

“She has improved her vertical, so she has been getting up higher,” Streeter said. “She has become a little bit harder of a hitter, and once we make a few adjustments to get her hitting out in front, she'll be hitting it even harder.”

After a seven-point win in the opening set, the Panthers seemed to be cruising once more after another early run. With Ralyn Seberg serving, Mt. Pleasant started the set on a 6-0 run.

“Ralyn is a good server,” Streeter said. “That's part of a good offense, is keeping them to running theirs."

The Grayhounds didn’t say die, fighting back to take a couple of two-point leads, even leading 16-12 at one point. Mt. Pleasant, however, stormed back to tie the game. It was tight in the end, tied at 19-19 before the Panthers scored six of the last seven points.

The Panthers couldn’t do the same to Muscatine. Mt. Pleasant fought tough in the first set, but the fresher Muskies scored the last five to take Set 1. Muscatine cruised in Set 2.

Streeter says the early two-gamer will help the Panthers settle in as they look to move forward and build off a conference championship last season.

“They're out to prove that they can still run at the top,” Streeter said. “They've almost got more to prove this year than they did last year.”