Mansfield junior Danielle Lowery gave a good indication where the Lady Tigers’ mindset was after their first volleyball loss of the season.
“We were all really upset about the night before,” messaged Lowery about the MHS senior varsity’s loss to Pottsville on September 8. “We had to all try to shake it off so it wouldn’t affect our other games this week."
Lowery, who has been a steady hand at the net for the Mansfield volleyball team, helped her team rebound from that Monday night setback at Pottsville. With some big blocks on defense and at least five kills through the first two sets, Lowery and company responded with a 3-0 sweep the following night at home over West Fork.
Reinforcing the team first unity this 2025 Mansfield squad has displayed, the 6’ 0” net patroller was quick to acknowledge the play of teammates over her own individual efforts. “Everyone did great,” Lowery would write in response to a question about who played well. “I think for her first time playing varsity, Kerrington Quick did amazing. Adeline Godwin and Miley Clopton were awesome. Two seniors, Kaylee Ward and Daisy Nelson, did the best they could as the leaders of our team.”
As for her own play, Lowery focused on the skill sets that bring her into the rotation as a front row athlete. “Sometimes my timing gets messed up and I don't get as many blocks,” the middle blocker offered. “Once I get my timing down is when I get my most blocks.”
Turning back West Fork attacks afforded Mansfield multiple opportunities from the other side of the net. The Tiger defense transitioned well into high powered offense. Perhaps playing with refocused energy after a non-conference loss on the road at Pottsville, the hometown Lady Tigers were relentless against West Fork. The first set went Mansfield way quickly at 25-7. The second and third periods rolled almost as easily with identical 25-12 beat downs by Mansfield.
MHS senior Kaylee Ward was her usual stellar self. The 3A-1 District’s tallest player at 6’ 4” blasted the ball with regularity. Through the first two sets alone she was flirting with double digit kills. One such tomahawk painted the face of a West Fork defender prompting a second timeout by the visiting black and gold Tigers.
MHS sophomore Miley Clopton was also an offensive weapon. When the strong leaper wasn’t swinging away on the left side attack, she was perpetuating long stretches through service rotation. In point of fact, Clopton took service in the opener after a terrific push shot by junior teammate Whitley Boyd. The terrific all around player then proceeded to string together 10 straight service points.
Effective serving for the Lady Tigers also came by way of another sophomore mainstay. Abby Smith, during one stretch in the second set, cooked a seven piece meal from the service line. Dialed in with some well placed balls, the athletic tenth grader spun four of those seven jump serves into aces.
“I just got back there and focused only on one serve at a time,” admitted Smith of her superb night at the serving line. “Especially after last night’s game, I felt an obligation to my team to focus more on serving to my targets.”
On those occasions where West Fork dug out some of Mansfield’s better serves, the red and white Tiger defense stepped it up. The synchronicity of the defending six moved extremely well together while the individual pieces played their roles.
Smith offered her take on the Tiger pickup team. “As for defense tonight,” she said, “we had several teammates that really stepped up defensively. Bailey Quick’s passing was outstanding with an amazing pancake! Danielle Lowery had key blocks, and Kerrington Quick came in and picked up some good digs too!”
Lowery backed up her younger teammate’s sentiments. “Yes, I believe so,” she began when asked about defense keying the offense. “The only way for us to get hits is our defensive back row. They did very well and handled their job.”
Senior Tiger Daisy Nelson sparked the back row from her libero position. First cousins Kerrington Quick and Bailey Quick made numerous digs including the ever impressive dive on the floor for “pancakes”.
Sophomore Adeline Godwin, who plays all the way around, tracked down those passes setting the ball at just the right height for landmark kills. As she rotated around the court her serving and hitting also trended in favor of the home team.
Mansfield’s junior varsity team also rebounded to their first loss of the year - a non-conference setback against Pottsville. The MHS junior girls took it to West Fork 25-11 and 25-14.
Freshman Ellah Heydenreich made a living at the service line. The Tiger’s young setter put together an eleven serve sequence to finish out the decisive second set. Eighth grader Jaiden Black did nearly the same in the first set. The front row player offered up a nine serve sequence to build an early lead.
Ninth grader Bentley Hoover posted a six serve series in the first. She also played big at the net with key blocks and several kill shots to the open court. Eighth grader Allie Hattabaugh was terrific as well with several pancake plays from the mid-court floor. She also responded offensively with kills from the left side attack.
Kinlee Winters, Lillianna Porter, Ava Elmore and Addalee Hattabaugh were also key contributors to the Mansfield junior high win. The West Fork victory kept the team undefeated in conference play.
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