Hornettes Honor Seniors, Win Monster Mash
Pictured here are (left to right, top) Joanna and Kurt Ellitot, Erin Gale, Kari Grobowski, Karianne and Darren Schnitker, Kathleen and Eric Spencer, Cassie and Dan Varel, Jamie and Brian Wesselman, (bottom, right left) Abby Wesselman, Delaney Varel, Elise Spencer, Sydney Schnitker, Taylor Rapp, Abby Grabowski, Addi Gale, Raqui Elliot
The Hornettes kicked off a busy week of action Tuesday night as they traveled down to Pinkneyville to take on the Lady Panthers.
This battle between conference rivals was as advertised. In a back and forth first set, the Lady Panthers walked away victorious by a score of 25-21. After losing the first set, the Hornettes would respond in a big way as they came back to win the second set by a score of 25-19, a game in which they never trailed. After a dramatic first two games, the third set was no exception. In another see-saw battle where there were several lead changes, close plays, and momentum shifts, the Hornettes prevailed once more with a 25-22 victory to secure the match.
Hazel Konkel accounted for 11 kills while Delaney Varel and Elise Spencer each had six. Varel also chipped on for eight servers points. Abby Grobowski, Emily Schitker, and Raqui Elliot each contributed with six. Sydney Schnitker and Varel each had two blocks a piece. Grobowski and Emily Schnitker accounted for 14 and 11 assists.
The JV lost their match in two sets, 25-23 and 25-14. The freshman squad took their first set 25-21 before losing the next two by scores of 25-14 and 15-9. The win moved the Hornettes to 8-1 in conference play, tying them with Pinckneyville for first. Nashville is now 21-7 on the season. The Hornettes continued their busy week Thursday night at Assembly Hall as they played host to DuQuoin on senior night. Raqui Elliot, Addi Gale, Abby Grabowski, Taylor Rapp, Sydney Schnitker, Elise Spencer, Delaney Varel, and Abby Wesselmann were the senior volleyball players who were honored.
On a night of much motion, the varsity dropped the first set by a score of 25-21. Needless to say, after the first game Nashville got their feet underneath them. They came back to dominate the second set, winning easily by a score of 25-11 to force a third frame. The Hornettes took the match in game three, winning 25-18. In a night that was about the seniors, they stepped up in a big way.
“With eight seniors they’re obviously the heart and soul of this team, they’ve all got their own little nitch, you’ve got the vocal leaders, and the ones that lead with their play. They’ve taught the younger kids a lot about what it means to play Nashville volleyball, and they’re going to be missed, but they’ve left their mark, each and every one of them,” Coach Konkel said.
Abby Grabowski finished the game with 11 assists and 8 digs. Wesselman ended up with a whopping 24 digs. It was a team effort from the seniors up front, as Addi Gale, Delaney Varel, Elise Spencer, and Taylor Rapp contributed a combined 20 kills. Sydney Schnitker added 18 digs, while Raqui Elliot finished with nine.
Emily Schnitker also assisted on 15 of the teams scoring plays, while Hazel Konkel added ten kills. The junior varsity Hornettes were not able to get in the win column, as they dropped two straight, 25-23 and 25-20.
The freshman came away victorious after taking the first two sets by way of 25-16 and 25-22.
On Saturday the varsity Hornettes traveled to Freeburg to participate in the Monster Mash Tournament. It was a field of twelve teams. The Hornettes first match up was against the Lady Warriors of Steeleville. Needless to say, the Hornettes dominated the match, winning both games 25-13 and 25-10.
The Hornettes would then play Hillsboro. In an extremely back and forth first set, Nashville was able to pull away at the end, securing a 25-19 win. Hillsboro was able to get off to a quick start in set number two as well, but
Nashville was able to weather the early storm and walked away with a 25-15 win. Next up was Waterloo.
The teams split the first two and forced a third set. Nashville took the first one 25-20, and Waterloo took the second one, 25-21. In the third set, Nashville took control early, eventually pulling away for a 15-8 win, taking the match. After winning their first three games, Nashville advanced to the championship game vs Gibault. The Lady Hawks dominated the first set, 25-14, before coming back to take the second set 25-22. In a deciding game three Nashville never trailed and won by a score of 15-8, taking the match and winning the tournament. The win put Nashville at 4-0 on the day, capping off an undefeated week of action. Delaney Varel, Hazel Konkel and Sydney Schnitker were named to the All Tournament while Sydney Schnitker was named MVP of the tournament. The Hornettes will be back in action on Tuesday at Murphysboro as they try to keep momentum rolling in their last regular week of the regular season.
