By Chris Parker
Mountain Grove volleyball took a huge step forward last year with a 20-win season after back-to-back five-win campaigns. It was the program’s first 20-win season since 2013.
“I think the difference in last year’s season compared to prior years had a lot to do with maturity and discipline,” Mountain Grove head coach Ashley Martin said. “The kids finally bought in, trusted the process and it paid off. I think they had finally figured out that what they were doing wasn’t getting the results they wanted and they were actually willing to change to win.”
Mountain Grove is poised to make a run at an even better record this year with key players returning.
Senior Reagan Hoerning is at the head of that group. She earned all-state honors last year after putting down 488 kills. She also had 256 digs and 72 aces.
“Reagan has always had it within her to be a strong hitter, but she really struggled with her mental toughness when I first got to Grove,” Martin said. “We focused a lot on putting her in pressure situations and really pushing her outside of her comfort zone. With time, she slowly started figuring out how to trust herself and with that, gained more confidence. I think this year, she’s going to exceed her stats from last year. I feel like she’s not even the same player she was last season. The player I’ve seen this summer coming off of club ball has continued to impress me and I can’t wait to see what she does on the outside for us.”
The Mountain Grove attack will be one of the most potent in the area with sophomore Raylee Stenzel returning. She put down 411 kills with 205 digs and 59 aces as a freshman.
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“I said it about Raylee last year and I will say it again this year: she didn’t play or look like a freshman last season and she doesn’t play or look like a sophomore this year. Ray is definitely beyond her age with her game. She plays year round, along with basketball and track; all while earning honors in each,” Martin said. “She’s extremely court smart. Her ball control is spot on. What I’d like to see from Ray is that she gains even more confidence and continues to be a solid leader on the court, holding her teammates accountable, pushing them along the way.”
That duo will be tough for opposing defenses to stop this year.
“With Reagan as her (Stenzel’s) opposite, we’re clearly an outside dominant team,” Martin said. “Both are six-rotation players, giving us a hitting outlet wherever we need. They complement each other well and will be a hard duo to stop.”
The job of orchestrating the offense will fall to junior Jozey MacPherson. MacPherson has played right side and been a strong defensive player in the past, but this year she will move to setter.
“She’s always been a solid right side/defensive player and we are moving her to the setter position,” Martin said. “She’s the fastest girl in the area, so running things down is what she does best.”
Fellow junior Campbell Welch will move to libero this year. She had 37 aces, 121 kills and 203 digs last year.
“She (Welch) has a great platform and does a great job on serve receive and defense,” Martin said.
Erecka Penner will move up to the varsity level as a sophomore to help run Mountain Grove’s 6-2 offense.
“She (Penner) has great hands and her height will definitely help us out on the front row,” Martin said.
Kailey Wake will move up to varsity and play middle in her junior year.
“She (Wake) can jump out of the gym and is becoming more and more confident every time she is on the floor,” Martin said. “I think she’ll have a lot of success this season.”
Lexie Collins (junior middle), Macy Dowden (junior DS), Makenna McGowan (sophomore DS) and Landry Golden (sophomore setter/middle) will also be competing for varsity time.
Mountain Grove is poised to make a run at the program’s first district title since 2012 this year.
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“Our biggest strength this year will be returning players with big game experience. I feel like the girls have grown up a lot since our district championship loss last season,” Martin said. “I think they’ve kind of had that ah-ha moment where they see how the mental aspect of the game is key in big moments. They’ve experienced what it feels like to be successful and they’ve experienced what it feels like to come up short. They definitely have a new found fire going into this next season.”
The talent and skill are there for Mountain Grove to accomplish all of their goals, so Martin will look to push her team mentally.
“I keep telling my girls that we are blessed with sound skills and fundamentals. We really are. In everything we do, day in and day out, we focus on fundamentals. And that’s an advantage a lot of teams don’t have. As a coach, I don’t have to spend a ton of time correcting bad habits,” Martin said. “I feel like I spend the majority of my time trying to push them mentally to where they can handle tough situations with poise. If we can beat our opponents in the mental aspect, we will have a lot of success this year.”
Mountain Grove will open the regular season on Aug. 29 at home against Fordland.
“We have a lot of goals going into this season,” Martin said. “Obviously we want to continue to have a winning season, hopefully adding a conference championship title to that, along with coming out on top in district play.”
