By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
HOLLISTER — On the eve of her team’s long-awaited rematch with the team that defeated them in last year’s district championship game, Mountain Grove volleyball coach Ashley Martin took a moment during practice to outline the reason this year’s title match would be different.
“We will be more mentally tough this year,” she recalled telling her players, referencing what had become a priority for the program ever since it failed to close out Forsyth last October. Mountain Grove dropped the final two sets in that contest, extending its district title drought to nine seasons.
Not this time.
Mountain Grove’s season-long focus on mental toughness paid off, as the team clinched the Class 3 District 11 championship with a hard-fought 3-1 win over top-seeded Forsyth on Monday at Hollister High School. It was Mountain Grove’s first district title since the 2012 team placed third in the state.
Mountain Grove (27-7) will travel to Mount Vernon (17-13-2) or Seneca (16-9-1) for a sectional at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Mountaineers and Indians are scheduled to play for the District 12 championship on Tuesday.
“We have been so hard towards the mental game for this moment,” Martin said. “And I am so proud of how gritty and how consistent we stayed. There were so many times where we could have caved and we just never wavered – and that’s what I’m most proud of.”
Mountain Grove returned to the state tournament with a 25-22, 28-26, 22-25, 25-18 victory that was exceptionally close, with neither group of Panthers leading either of the first two sets by more than four points.
Mountain Grove overcame two Forsyth set points in the second, rallying from a 23-24 deficit to score five of the set’s final seven points and take a commanding 2-0 match lead.
But Forsyth (19-8-5) answered back immediately, outdueling Mountain Grove in a third set that was tied 15 times before Mountain Grove surrendered four of that set’s final five points.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE MATCH
Mountain Grove, which also led last year’s title match 2-1 before ultimately losing, was not deterred.
“You’re going forward,” Martin said. “You can’t look back. Yes, you use that for motivation, but you don’t dwell on anything – even the prior sets. You can’t even look back on the prior sets. What else do you expect? That’s what I told my girls. ‘What else do you expect? They’re a solid team. They’re here in the championship round for a reason. Of course they’re going to come out and battle. It’s what you should want. You want a battle.’ I’m just really proud that we stepped up. We didn’t cave to pressure and we got the job done. I’m so proud.”
Forsyth carried the momentum from its third-set victory into the fourth, taking an early 2-0 lead. But junior Savannah Koen suffered an injury on the second point, had to be helped off the court and did not return, dramatically affecting Forsyth’s ability to defend Mountain Grove’s hitters.
Mountain Grove immediately went on an 13-4 run to take a seven-point lead – which nearly doubled the game’s previous largest advantage – as Forsyth coach Melissa Ellison said her team “kind of got frazzled a little bit” by the loss of one of their key contributors.
“I completely changed my lineup,” Ellison added. “The lineup that we were using, we had big hitters for every rotation. Obviously, that kind of threw a wrench in it. We had girls playing out of position that don’t normally play that had to step up. It changed the whole dynamic, but they still dug down deep and hustled and fought it out.”
Ultimately, Mountain Grove’s two-headed attack – led by senior Reagan Hoerning and sophomore Raylee Stenzel – was too much for the suddenly shorthanded Forsyth team.
The two had combined for 725 kills through the district semifinals, and added several more as Mountain Grove clinched the title on Monday night.
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF THE MATCH
“It feels amazing,” Hoerning said, still clutching the district championship plaque she collected – and kissed – just moments earlier. “I’m so proud of our team. We’ve been looking forward to this for the last couple of years. Last year was a heartbreaker in five sets to the same team. I’m really excited for our program and what this is going to do for us going forward.”
Hoerning knows a thing or two about what the victory signifies.
When she was in second grade, she was a water girl for the last Mountain Grove team to win a district championship, a group that eventually advanced to the Final Four.
“That was just an amazing experience to have as a little girl,” Hoerning said. “I’m hungry. I want to go. I’m looking, pushing our team. Hopefully we’ll get there.”
As the lone senior on the 2022 team’s roster, Hoerning is now just two wins away from returning – though she now has a few more responsibilities than ensuring the team stays hydrated.
“She’s every type of leader that you could ever want for a team,” Martin said. “I know she’s solo, but she fills so many, so many positions for us. She embraces the fact that that’s her job and her title and she holds accountability and she sets the standards. You don’t ever have to worry about her work ethic. You don’t ever have to worry about where her mindset is. She’s a competitor and she craves it. She does a great job leading everybody else.”
Hoerning sees many similarities between this year’s team and the one from a decade ago.
“That team was really special,” Hoerning said. “Something I look up to them for is their bond. I think us girls, we have the same exact bond. We’ve grown really close. We come together every single time. I’m just really excited.”
