Bulldogs will take time to look back on accomplishments of 2019 volleyball season

By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com

Maybe it will be next week.

Perhaps it will be next month.

It might not even be that soon, but there will assuredly come a time when Mahomet-Seymour’s varsity volleyball players look back on a season of firsts, a lengthy list of noteworthy achievements and smile about a job well done.

Before that time arrives, the Bulldogs have to get through the experience of a heartbreaking loss to Normal University High on Monday, a two-set setback in the semifinals of a Class 3A sectional tournament that M-S was hosting.

Playing before a near-capacity crowd, the Bulldogs put themselves in position for a promising start, building a 23-19 lead in the opening set.

“We should have finished,” M-S coach Stan Bergman said. “We had the right personnel in the front row to do that. We had an opportunity, and that leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Against good teams, you don’t have many opportunities to put them away.

“After that, we played U-High’s game.”

The early successes made the following moments more painful.

U-High rolled up six consecutive points to win the first set 25-23, a margin which represented its largest lead at any point in the opener.

The visiting Pioneers took that momentum and zipped into a 5-1 advantage to start the second set, when Bergman called his first timeout.

On six subsequent occasions, M-S pulled within two points, only whittling its margin to a single point once (9-8 following a kill by Lauren Minick).

U-High rolled up a 25-16 triumph in the decisive second set and finished the match by scoring five of the last six points.

“It was really hard trying to catch up to them in the second set,” Bergman said.

Though M-S has seven seniors on its roster – and they collectively made a huge impact – Bergman pointed to the experience on the other side of the net.

U-High has three players who have committed to Division I programs.

“The majority of them play club year-round and we have maybe two or three,” Bergman said.

The lone Bulldog who has committed thus far is Minick, a 5-foot-9 outside hitter who will be part of the first recruiting class for Heartland Community College, in Bloomington. Heartland’s volleyball team will play its inaugural season in 2020.

Monday’s first set featured four lead changes and six ties.

Ainsley Ranstead twice gave M-S its biggest lead of the match. Her back-row kill created a 13-9 margin. She later thundered a kill off the U-High block and the ball sailed into the stands, lifting the Bulldogs into their 23-19 advantage and what would be the team’s final point of the opening set.

“We definitely had a game plan we followed in the first set and we converted,” Bergman said. “I wish we would have finished that first set to see what might have happened. But we didn’t finish, to put the pressure on them.”

Ranstead led the Bulldogs with nine kills, seven coming in the first set.

Kayin Garner delivered 19 assists, Ellie Beach totaled seven digs. Makayla Rosenbery had two blocks and three kills in the first set.

Garner, Beach and Rosenbery are seniors as are the team’s other two kill leaders for the match, Minick (five) and Amber Yeakel (three).

Minick served two aces and another senior, Delaney Wheeler, landed one. U-High managed just two aces against the Bulldogs.

The other M-S senior is Ashley Wheeler.

When the team reflects, they will see a season:

—  Where they tied the school record for wins with 30;

—  Where they won two regular-season tournaments and were the runner-up in another;

—  Where they captured an undisputed conference championship, the second outright title in volleyball in the past 27 years;

—  Where they won just the school’s second regional in the sport in the last 23 years;

—  And where the stands were packed for their season-ending match.

The players recognized and appreciated the support. Bergman said it sent a strong message.

“I told them they should be happy with what they’ve done,” he said. “You’ve got a community behind you. They came out to watch and support you.

‘The girls were stunned. They said they had never, ever had that much support from the student section and so many (fans) from the community.”

Though nearly half of the roster will graduate, Bergman has a nucleus to build around. Ranstead was the kills leader for the season and another junior, Josie Hess, was the digs leader.

Hess totaled five digs against U-High, which won the sectional championship on Wednesday by sweeping Rochester, 25-22, 25-18, in a showdown between two 30-win teams.

Next year, M-S could have an influx of younger players coming from successful programs. The junior varsity finished its season with a 20-13 record and the freshmen were 17-11.

At all three levels this season, M-S volleyball teams were victorious in 68 percent of all matches. The varsity closed with a 30-8 record.

“We had a lot of accomplishments,” Bergman said, “and to do it with this group of kids in my first year (at M-S) makes it special.

“We’ll regroup and get things back together. This has been a fun year. I couldn’t ask for a better group to work with.

“The girls themselves understand me a little better. They thought of me as the crazy old man during the summer with all the drills I had them do.

“Now, at the end of the season, they understand that success has to be built around hard work and fundamentals.”