The Mt. Zion volleyball team showed fight and toughness on Tuesday night, as they battled back to beat Mattoon on the road in three sets, 22-25, 25-23, 25-19 to stay undefeated in the Apollo Conference.
The Wave had the chance to put Mt. Zion away after taking set one and leading 23-21 in the second but could not put away the Braves as they evened things up at one a piece. The Braves would then take care of business in the third set to fight off Mattoon once against and move to 6-0 in conference play. “It was just a tough hard fought win. The girls are tired, sore and worn out after 14 matches over the last 11 days. We know what they are going to do and they know what we are going to do when we play each other,” said Mt. Zion head coach Jay McAtee.
Erin Ripple led the charge with 18 kills as Karlee McAtee chipped in with nine kills and Ali Vaughn tallied a season high 32 assists. “Losing the first set and down 23-21 in the second set the girls dug deep when they had to. Our sluggish passing really slowed our offense down and to Mattoon’s credit they served and played very aggressive,” said McAtee. Mattoon was led by Ashlyn McDonald’s nine kills and Summerlyn Smith had 32 assists on the evening.
Mt. Zion will look to keep the momentum going and keep marching towards a conference title as they return to action at home tomorrow night in a conference matchup with Taylorville.
“In terms of conference the win was huge. One more huge hurdle tomorrow night as Taylorville comes to Mt. Zion. A win would guarantee at least a share of the conference championship,” stated McAtee.