Improved Mustangs lose to 3A No. 8 Nevada

MONROE — PCM’s volleyball team was swept by Class 3A No. 8 Nevada on Sept. 10. But the loss didn’t feel like others against the Cubs in the past few seasons.

PCM wasn’t intimidated, it hit back and battled Nevada for three sets during a 25-19, 25-17, 25-17 Heart of Iowa Conference loss.

“I think we are coming along. We are narrowing the gap,” PCM head coach Mike Vittetoe said. “In the past, we would have been intimidated and happy to scrap out a few points. It felt like we were playing with them.”

The Mustangs carried the momentum they gained in a big win over Greene County on Sept. 8 to spark a solid performance against the Cubs.

PCM jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the opening set behind a pair of kills by senior Celeste Wagaman and an ace by junior Claire Wilson.

The Mustangs maintained a four-point lead when a Wilson kill made it 10-6 and senior Riley Hjortshoj’s blast from the middle gave the home team a 13-9 advantage.

“I thought we set the tone a little bit in the first set. We hit at them and they were giving us free balls back,” Vittetoe said. “We are starting to build confidence and have more of a winning attitude.

“Tuesday’s win was huge for us. Greene County was probably projected to finish third in the conference.”

Nevada (9-6 overall, 1-0 in the HOIC) eventually rallied. The set was tied six times before the Cubs rolled off six straight to win the set.

PCM maintained its strong play early in the second set. Neither team grabbed much of an advantage as the set saw five ties in the first 18 points.

Aces by sophomore Riley Johannes and Wagaman evened the set at 6-all and 8-all, and then a kill by senior Kassidy Block tied it at 9-all.

Nevada used a 4-0 run to grab the lead for good. The advantage eventually grew to 20-12 and the Cubs went on to win by eight. Senior Jacki Vos did have a pair of kills down the stretch to keep the Mustangs alive.

Vos finished with a team-high six kills and three digs. Vos is having the best season of her career.

“She is probably our most improved player. She is hitting more at the top of her jump this year,” Vittetoe said.

The Cubs never trailed in the third set. The closest PCM (6-12, 1-2) got was 12-11, but the Cubs turned a 19-15 lead into a 25-17 win with a 6-2 stretch to end the set.

Vos highlighted the set with several kills. Junior libero Chelsea Bird also kept a lot of points alive with some big digs against Nevada’s heavy hitters.

Bird finished with a team-high eight digs.

“She’s been doing a great job for us at libero. The defense has been key and she’s preventing a lot of aces,” Vittetoe said. “She thrives on digging the hard hits. She wants our hitters to hit as hard as they can at her in practice. She loves it.”

Wagaman finished with five kills and two digs, Wilson had three kills and four digs, Hjortshoj added three kills and senior Emma Reed chipped in two kills.

Senior Bella Stone dished out 18 assists and added three digs and seniors Lilli Baird and Teegan Giles had five digs and three digs, respectively.

“We got a lot of kills against a real good team,” Vittetoe said. “We are starting to hit the ball. Our defense and our passing are better thus we are hitting the ball more.”

Serving was a bit of an issue as the Mustangs had only two aces and missed 12 serves. Stone was 8-of-9 in serving to lead the way.

PCM has already matched last year’s win total. Vittetoe said the schedule still has plenty of wins on it if the Mustangs continue to trend upward.

“We looked at the schedule, and we think there a lot of wins left for us to get,” Vittetoe said. “We have high hopes the rest of the way.”

PCM played at Saydel for a HOIC match on Sept. 15.

The Mustangs next compete in the North Mahaska tournament at 9 a.m. on Sept. 19 in New Sharon.