Mansfield loaded up the “Yellow Dog” and headed north on an Elk hunt. That is to say MHS volleyball packed a school bus, took the familiar I-49 corridor to Elkins looking to bag another conference win versus the typically tough Lady Elks.
Mansfield was in the mood to make their first week of the 2025 volleyball season an undefeated one. Its senior high varsity team had already dispensed with Waldron on Monday followed by the purging of Providence Academy on Tuesday. Momentum was in the Lady Tigers’ favor to finish the week with a Thursday night thriller. A victorious road trip to Elk Country would give them that sweep.
As expected Elkins put up a fight. The last two sets in particular, it was the type of back and forth battle you’d expect from two teams with conference championships on their mind.
In the end, Mansfield got it done. The Lady Elks went down 25-15, 25-22 and 25-21. The Lady Tigers had their perfect week. Adding the 3-0 sweep in Elkins, Mansfield was a perfect 9-0 in sets played during the opening week of volleyball season.
According to Mansfield senior volleyball player Kaylee Ward, it was a challenging match. “Tough game,” the All-State hitter would describe following the three set winner. “We came together - had to have energy, stay locked in and play for each other.
“Neither team really made a run in those last two sets,” the senior would go on to say. “We kept each other positive, and had a ‘We over me’ attitude for the win.”
As Ward remembered it, the final set was close. She recalled the score being tight. “A point or two difference in the third set,” was how she phrased it. Officially, the margin was two with a 23-21 advantage tilting towards the visiting Tigers with the match still in question.
MHS sophomore Adeline Godwin rotated over, serving to close the match. Elkins played the serve well, yet Mansfield’s defense reacted even better. Turning a dig into a scoring opportunity, Mansfield set a solid attack in motion. As it played out, Godwin circled under the pass and found Ward approaching for a middle kill. The senior 6’ 4” rifle arm hammered down putting the Tigers within a point of victory.
Godwin, the Tigers’ typical first server to start games, delivered to end it. Her final swing of the night was an ace. Mansfield loaded back up their yellow dog - headed this time south and with an Elk trophy in hand.
To open the night, Mansfield, as the visitor, was awarded first serve. On the floor for the Tigers was Godwin at the serve with Bailey Quick and Miley Clopton covering back row. Abby Smith took front row, right side alongside with Whitley Boyd positioned in the middle and Ward on the left. This lineup put Mansfield’s top server in the initial action while preserving Ward’s front row status for maximum residency.
The Tigers had their best margin of victory in that opening frame although Elkins had the better start. The home team, backed by a raucous crowd, kept an early lead through the first 18 points of play. Not until the score was knotted at 9-9, did Mansfield make a play for the lead.
Quick, Mansfield’s defensive specialist, got hot from the service line around this juncture of the first set. Stringing together a 6 serve series, she helped Mansfield surge ahead at 12-10.
Elkins won a point thereafter. Godwin then rotated back around for her second turn in the serving order. The Mansfield tenth grader went 5 deep before Elkins took the sideout off a Mansfield mishit that couldn’t quite clear the net.
Elkins effort, however, was short-lived in the back and forth battle. Meanwhile, Smith, Ward, Kamryn Infalt and Miley Clopton rotated through each adding points off their serves between the occasional points picked up by the Elks.
Clopton hit three winners off the attack within the final nine plays. Danielle Lowery, who rotated through the front row as a middle blocker, had a kill - as did Smith. Clopton finally got the last point of the first set off her serve when Elkins deflected the ball into the net.
The two teams mirrored each other in the middle set. A give and take tussle transpired much like the third. Mansfield, to their credit, kept the communications flowing and avoided the mental breakdowns under Elkins’ relentless pressure. Eventually, MHS took the second set by 3 points making it the stand of the contest.
Mansfield also enjoyed a well contested junior varsity match. The Lady Tiger prep team took the undercard 2-0 with narrow set victories of 25-22 and 25-23.
Freshmen floor leaders Ellah Heydenreich, Lillianna Porter and Bentley Hoover had solid games. Eighth graders Allie Hattabaugh was confident with hard swings from the left side as was Jaiden Black from the middle. Kinlee Winters and Ava Elmore, a pair of seventh graders, played with poise as well.
Additional settings for Safari Browser.
