Trojans down Panthers in three

By ROGER THOMAS, Courier correspondent

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield Trojans downed Southeast Conference rival Mount Pleasant for the fourth time this season in a Class 3A, Region 6 quarterfinal regional volleyball match Monday night in Fairfield. The 3-0 win included game scores 25-18, 25-18 and 25-15.

With the victory, Fairfield will host another league foe when Keokuk visits the Trojans on Thursday at 7 p.m. Keokuk defeated Fort Madison Monday to advance.

Against Mount Pleasant, Fairfield jumped to an early 9-3 lead in game one on the strength of two early kills by Maryn Fulton. Hillary Wilkinson also had a kill off a poor Panther pass and a block at the net for a score in the early-going. Meredith Flattery added her fourth service point to make it 10-3 Trojans.

The Panthers never threatened after that, but consecutive kills by Myra Krieger-Coen brought Mtount Pleasant to within 24-18. A Panther service error ended game one.

Game two was another 25-18 Trojan win, but the game was not at all like the first one. Fairfield led 4-0 with Brittney Fry serving. The Panthers would rally and take an 11-6 lead, as Emily Prellwitz served a string of seven straight. Andrea Pieper and Cadey Merschman had kills in the run. An ace serve by the Panthers’ Steph Myers gave the Panthers their biggest lead on the night at 17-9.

Fairfield coach Nancy Diers talked about the Panther run.

“We didn’t serve-receive well for awhile and it made us a little timid at the net,” she said.

The game turned at that point. A carry call on the Panthers made the score 17-10 — but more importantly — it gave the serve to Chelsey Taylor. She would give the lead back to the Trojans with a service run that included an ace for point number 18.

“My teammates say that my serve is hard to return,” said Taylor. “Sometimes I get on a run. I was just trying to serve it deep.”

Although Diers said the Trojans were off and on during the match, Fairfield started to exhibit the confidence that goes along with a 32-5 regular season record.

Fry led the hitting during the comeback. She had a big hit, a block for a point, and a kill during the slow but sure momentum swing.

The Panthers would tie it at 18 before Wilkinson served out game two for the Trojans. The Trojans went on a 16-1 run as they went up 2-0.

Fulton started game three with a kill for Fairfield. The Trojans increased the lead to 3-0 and were still up 5-3 on another kill by Fulton. Fulton led the Trojans with eight kills in the match.

“I really like to take the big swing,” Fulton said. “There really wasn’t anything special about what Mount Pleasant was doing tonight.”

The Panthers closed to within one at 5-4 but the Trojans would steadily build the lead and close out game three. A deep kill by Fulton put Fairfield up 17-8 and two big hits by Fry scored Trojan points 23 and 24 as Fairfield was on its way to the second round.

“During the season you go through times of sickness and injury,” said Diers. “We used those times to test our team and put them into situations that helped prepare us for being down in a match.”

Regional Volleyball

Class 3A, Region 6

10-27

Fairfield 25-25-25

Mt. Pleasant 18-18-15

Mount Pleasant Statistics

Serving — Rebekah Kimzey 5/5, Krieger-Coen 8/8, Prellwitz 12/13, Pieper 8/9, Myers 9/10, Merschman 4/8. Team —46/53 . Aces — Krieger-Coen, Myers. Team — 2.

Hitting — Pieper 6/7, Lisa Moeller 12/13, Prellwitz 0/2, Hannah Sinclair 5/8, Merschman 14/16, Krieger-Coen 15/17 Myers 0/1, Mandi White 1/2. Team —53/66 . Kills — Pieper 2, Moeller, Sinclair, Merschman, Krieger-Coen 3. Team — 8.

Setting — Kimzey 20. Team — 21.

Blocks — Moeller 2, Merschman. Team — 3.

Digs — Prellwitz 9. Team — 39.

Fairfield Statistics

Serving — Fry 14/14, Nichole gevock 7/8, Fulton 5/8, Flattery 10/11, Taylor 14/15, Wilkinson 16/17. Team - 66/73 Aces — Gevock, Taylor, Wilkinson. Team — 3.

Hitting — Flattery 8/9, Fry 20/21, Taylor 6/7, Wilkinson 5/6, Fulton 22/26. Team -61/69 Kills — Flattery, Fry 3, Wilkinson 3, Fulton 8. Team — 15.

Setting — Gevock 25. Team — 26.

Blocks — Fry 3, Wilkinson, Fulton 4. Team — 8.

Digs — Flattery 18. Team — 67.