Monticello has five seniors that they can count on, but with Jefferson District play getting into full swing this week, the elder Mustangs are finding out that there are some younger players on this team that can get the job done too. As the team worked through a sweep of Orange County on Thursday night, Kate Geldmacher and Amy Skolnick led Monticello’s attack, but got plenty of help from sophomores Charlotte Devine and Brittany Scott as well to cruise to a 3-0 win, 25-13, 25-16, 25-17.
“We’re pretty lucky,” said Mustangs coach John Mitchem. “(Charlotte and Brittany) are pretty good passers and can play defense and we’ve got a lot strength in our middle hitters.”
The win comes after two weeks of non-district play where the Mustangs played in a pair of tournaments and squared off against a strong Powhatan team.
“We really tried to challenge the players early on in the year with our out of district schedule, so we kind of took our lumps and its nice be facing some Jefferson District opponents,” Mitchem said. “We had been serving pretty well, but not very consistently and we were better there tonight.”
With the exception of the very beginning of the second game, Monticello was in control and comfortable from start to finish. In all three games the Mustangs were able to build a 5-point lead or more midway through building the gap behind their work in front of the net and behind the service line, the latter of which had been a problem in previous games.
With the Hornets struggling in the serve receive department, six different Monticello players were able to register at least two aces with junior Mariah Williams leading the team with six while Devine and Geldmacher each had four.
Up front the Mustangs showed great versatility on offense as Geldmacher and Skolnick tied with a game high eight kills and Divine and Scott not far behind with five each to give Monticello 26 of its total 34 kills.
“I think we were really good on offense tonight and that our coverage was good too,” Devine said. “We were really aggressive and we were able to keep the enthusiam up the whole way through.”
Taking over for Amanda Powell, Williams had a solid night at setter as she doled out a game high 29 assists while also leading her team on defense with nine digs.
For Orange, the loss comes after another tough five-game defeat to Madison County earlier in the week and first year coach Jenn Donaldson is hoping that her players can muster up a little more fire and focus.
“We definitely need to pick up on our serve receive,” Donaldson said. “We’re a much better team than that. We never could get any momentum and the girls didn’t have any intensity. We had some good plays, but for the most part we really looked dead out there.”
Senior Emma Chronister led the Hornets attack with four kills. Allie Fincham put together four blocks and a kill. Paige Phillips had three blocks and a pair of kills.
The Hornets hope to rebound against Goochland on the road Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
After a handful of tough tournaments to start the season, Monticello travels to Fluvanna County on Tuesday also at 7:30 p.m.
