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Panther volleyball eliminated
Mt. Pleasant’s win streak over Keokuk ends in regionals
KEOKUK — Heading in to Tuesday night’s Class 4A Region 8 opener, the Mt. Pleasant volleyball team had owned Keokuk. On Tuesday, however, it was the Chiefs who had the upper hand.
Hosting Keokuk snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Panthers, beating Mt. Pleasant in four sets, advancing 25-10, 23-25, 25-15, 25-22.
It was a disaster first set for the Panthers, as Keokuk took control of Set 1 and held on to it tight. The Chiefs rolled to a 25-10 win and took a 1-0 series advantage.
“I told the athletes that we needed to eliminate the mistakes on our outside of the net, and take care of what we can control,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Logan Wall.
Mt. Pleasant came out firing in the second set. The Panthers jumped out to an early 6-2 lead and held the advantage for most of the game, thanks in part to a pair of early service aces by Emma Starr.
The Chiefs started to claw back, and the game was tied at 20-20, and then again at 22-22 and 23-23.
Keokuk seemingly had won a pivotal 24th point with the game knotted up, but a protest from the Mt. Pleasant sideline discovered the Chiefs were out of rotation. That, instead, put the Panthers up 24-23, and a block by Alex Scott and Myah Starr on the very next point gave Mt. Pleasant a 25-23 victory.
“There was some hustle plays that helped with energizing the team,” said Wall. “But (we were) also lucky to catch Keokuk out of rotation with the incorrect server, which shifted the momentum.”
Unfortunately for the Panthers, Keokuk immediately stole back that momentum. Chiefs senior Kendra Boatman went on a long serve streak to start the third set, and before you knew it, Keokuk was up 6-0.
A couple of kills from Kynlee White helped the Panthers battle back, but Keokuk held the lead for the entirety of the third set, and eventually the Chiefs had a 25-15 win, and a 2-1 set advantage.
The Panthers and Chiefs battled tooth and nail in the fourth set, but in the final points, Keokuk hung on and put the Panthers away 25-22.
Mt. Pleasant ended the year 9-28, matching its season win total from last year. The Panthers did improve their spot in the Soutehast Conference, getting third in the tournament this year after a sixth-place finish the year before.
“Our blocking and serving improved throughout the year,” said Wall. “We became more consistent with our serves and were hitting serving spots with more accuracy than the beginning of the season.”
Keokuk’s (11-15) reward for winning on Tuesday night was a date with unbeaten and top-ranked Clear Creek-Amana (43-0) on Thursday night. In the other Class 4A semifinal, Oskaloosa (15-16) takes on Burlington (18-22)
