In the 3A-1 volleyball world, antennas typically go up when Mansfield comes to town. Such was the case on Thursday, as Mansfield took to the road for a conference matchup with an alert and pesky Providence Academy.
“I would like to think everyone we play comes into the game wanting to beat us because of the many years Mansfield volleyball has won state.” This was a gut reaction offered by Mansfield sophomore Miley Clopton after the Lady Tigers faced one of their toughest conference challenges this season against Providence.
The outside hitter is a varsity starter for Mansfield, a program that proudly carries the mantle of 8 state titles on their collective résumé everywhere they go. By the level of play offered by Providence and with the reactions of their home crowd with every rally’s outcome, it was obvious the Patriot Nation was well aware of the Tigers’ reputation.
“PA actually played very well tonight,” continued Clopton. “They were able to take our hits and made us keep drivin’ until the very last point.”
The Providence Academy Patriots put Mansfield on thin ice twice within the match that actually went four sets. The home team, however, was only able to capitalize once. The visiting Tigers staved off the Patriot uprising to take the final three sets for the 3-1 victory. With the win, Mansfield began the second round of the 3A-1 Conference round robin much like it finished the first - undefeated in the league standings.
Mansfield’s senior middle blocker, Kaylee Ward, had a take on Providence that was similar to the view of her front row teammate. “PA isn’t a team to just look over,” said Ward. “They are very scrappy and are always going to bring their best game against us. We had to lock in and focus and bring how we know how to play in the third and fourth sets.”
It was in the first set that the Patriots fired their best shot. They caught the Tigers flat-footed and raced out to an 11-5 lead forcing a Tiger timeout.
Clopton came out of the team huddle, fired up, and responded with a kill to win the serve. As it worked out, the service rotation was now hers.
Clopton put four consecutive serves into play with Mansfield winning three of the four. Junior teammate Danielle Lowery responded as well. She turned back two straight Patriot missiles as blocks for Tiger points. MHS setter and outside hitter Adeline Godwin then came through with a kill. Godwin’s heater injected life into the Tiger comeback and tightened the score at 11-9.
Providence adjusted with a dink over the next Tiger block to regain serve. Action over the net heated up. Providence made a mini-run. Mansfield responded. PA rolled another shot over a block followed by another big kill. Ward brought a block and Clopton fired down the line for consecutive Tiger winners.
The first set saw hostile stops at 20-18, 24-20 and 24-22. Godwin cut loose again with a cross-court winner moving the needle to 24-23. Clopton then launched a service ace to knot the score at 24-24 prompting a PA timeout.
The Providence halt worked. The home team forced a Tiger error at the net then followed up with a deep push to the corner to take the first set 26-24.
“We lacked energy in the first set,” Ward explained. “We picked it back up the second because we knew that’s not our game and how we play. We are better than that.”
Picking it up was what Mansfield did. For the rest of the match, the Tigers came out with their claws extended. Through the second and third sets in particular, Mansfield made quick work of this business trip.
MHS sophomore Abby Smith caught fire from the service line. The outside hitter put together a string of eleven straight serves. Two went for aces while other offerings created confusion and errors from the Academy players.
Within that same Smith series, Mansfield as a whole started to really click. Clopton got a kill. Ward got four kills - three of which came in consecutive order.
Playing keep-away gave Mansfield real momentum. Clopton offered, “We got it back by playing like a team. It takes every single girl in a Tiger jersey to win, not just one or two. It takes all of us!”
Ward explained that the Tiger turnaround stemmed from something quite simple. The senior said, “We started talking a lot more, running plays and brought energy!”
Mansfield’s communication and court coverage increased to a point where they ran away with the second set 25-15. Bailey Quick, Daisy Nelson, and Kerrington Quick helped get the ball up canceling potential Providence winners. Whitley Boyd, Godwin and Smith, among others, did a nice job covering for the hitters and collapsing the defense.
Offensively, Godwin dialed up a cut shot winner. Smith dropped a tip between Patriot players. Ward made good on a slide around the setter.
Much the same action occurred in the third set. Mansfield imposed its will and raced to a 25-12 decision for a 2-1 lead in the set count.
Godwin powdered the line with a hard hit. Smith poked a passerby. Clopton tipped it left handed and Ward brought the thunder. Despite the Mansfield surge, the Academy athletes did not go without a fight.
PA hoisted up a block to start the fourth followed by a pair of aces. They cashed in a cross-court kill and moneyballed well placed shots to take momentum in the fourth with a 14-9 advantage.
Mansfield turned the tide once again following their second timeout. After the pause, the Tigers' collective claws got sharp over the next 13 rallies.
Ward whacked a pair of winners. Clopton landed two hard shots. Lowery rejected a Patriot attempt to tie the tension at 18-18. Clopton did the same with another block. Shifting the momentum, Mansfield climbed to their first lead in the fourth set at 19-18.
Kerrington Quick gapped an ace. Lowery quick-killed a floater. Providence called their own timeout now down 22-19 to reverse the trend once again.
The home team fought back with a deep shot winner to the end line. Two consecutive PA service aces followed. Suddenly, the score was locked at 22 each.
Providence scored one more point in their late set run. Mansfield’s miss into the net gave the league's third place team a scary 23-22 lead and hope the match might extend to a decisive fifth set.
The eyes of the Tigers did not blink. They would have no part in prolonging the night.
Godwin and Lowery rejected a home cooked platter with a tandem block. The stuffing knotted the score at 23-23. Lowery then dinked a change-up to take the lead 24-23. Godwin showed no fear on the very next point. The tenth grader punctuated a line shot winner for the 25-23 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
Mansfield’s junior high team easily won their contest over Providence Academy by a 2-0 count. Their line score read 25-6 and 25-11. With the early evening victory, the junior varsity duplicated the senior varsity’s 8-0 conference record.
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