Hornettes Drop Two Straight In Conference
Senior Abby Kempfer hits the ball over two Pinckneyville defenders during the Hornettes three game loss to the Lady Panthers on September 21.
By Brent Huelsmann
After winning their first two conference matches of the season, the Nashville Hornettes had a tough week in conference matchups this past week. Nashville fell to 2-2 in SIRR Mississippi Division play this past week as they fell to Carterville on the road, and dropped a close matchup to the Lady Panthers of Pinckneyville at Assembly Hall.
The Hornettes began the week on September 19 with a long road trip down to Carterville. The Lady Lions would come out on top on their home floor as they defeated the Hornettes in two straight games 25-22, 25-20.
Mackenzie McFeron led the way with six kills in the win, followed by Jenna Harris with three kills. Paige Kasten led the team with 11 assists, while McFeron led the team with 12 digs. Abby Wesselman finished with eight digs in the loss.
Nashville was back on their home floor with a matchup against one of the favorites in the SIRR Mississippi Division, the Pinckneyville Lady Panthers. Nashville was able to take the first game 26-24, but the Lady Panthers bounced back to take the final two games. Pinckneyville took game two 25-15, and followed that up with a hard fought 25-23 win to take the match.
In game one, the Hornettes got off to a quick 5-0 lead, and kept the Lady Panthers at bay for the majority of the game. The Hornettes led by as many as six midway through the match, but Pinckneyville was able to come back and take the lead at 19-18 for their first lead of the game. The teams would go back and forth down the stretch. Pinckneyville had a chance to take the win as they led 24-23, but the Hornettes scored the final three points of the game to take the win 26-24.
In game two, Nashville never was able to get a lead, and could not come from behind as Pinckneyville used a huge run in the middle of the game to put away the Hornettes and force game three 25-15.
Much like the first game, the Hornettes and Pinckneyville went back and forth. Nashville took an early four point lead, but the Lady Panthers would come back to tie the game at 14 midway through the deciding game. Down the stretch, the teams would be tied at 15, 16, and 19 before Pinckneyville was able to close out the win.
After the match, Coach Josh Konkel was happy with the way his team played. “We played well, especially in the first and third games. And like I told the girls, it came down to one play, one call, one this, one that. We are right there with one of the best teams in Southern Illinois, so hopefully we can learn from it and keep improving going forward.”
McFeron led the way with six kills, followed by Vanessa Wyciskalla with five kills. Kasten finished with four kilss, and both Harris and Kempfer finished with three kills. Kasten led the team with 22 assists, while Kempfer finished with three blocks to lead Nashville. Wesselman finished with 22 digs to lead the team, followed by McFeron with 19, and Sydney Brinkman with 14.
The Hornettes are 9-6 on the season.
