The No. 3 Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets went all the way to the regional finals of the OHSAA Division 1, Region 1 volleyball state tournament, and while the team was on a roll with three straight wins to start the playoffs, the season ended with a 3-1 loss to No. 1 Olentangy Liberty on May 20.
No. 3 Mount Vernon 3, No. 18 Northland 0
No. 3 Mount Vernon had been surging leading up to the tournament, winning seven of their last eight matches. In the opening match, they had a balanced attack with 10 different players recording kills, as the Yellow Jackets knocked off No. 18 Northland 3-0 in three straight blowout wins.
The Yellow Jackets dominated the first set 25-8, followed by a convincing 25-18 win and a lopsided 25-8 third-set victory.
Hunter Thompson led Mount Vernon with nine kills, five aces and five digs. Zach Black had an all-around quality match, stuffing the stat sheet with eight kills, two aces, one block and five digs. Evan Komitau led the team in digs with six, and also had an ace.
No. 3 Mount Vernon, No. 7 Lincoln 0
The duo of Parker Gantt and Cooper Carpenter provided a one-two punch as the No. 3 Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets made quick work of the Lincoln Golden Lions (15-9, 11-3) in a 3-0 sweep win in the regional quarterfinals of the OHSAA Division 1, Region 1 tournament.
The Yellow Jackets had a tight opening set but came away with a 25-22 win. Mount Vernon went on to win by a wider margin at 25-18 in set two, and proceeded to crush the Golden Lions 25-11 in the third set.
Gantt had 11 kills, two assists, two blocks and eight digs to lead the Yellow Jackets. Carpenter once again was a force setting the ball, with 29 assists. He also led the team in digs with nine, while blocking two shots and recording three kills. Hunter Thompson played well with seven kills, one block and one dig. Dash Lepley recorded eight digs and Ethan Cline had six digs and a block, while putting up seven kills.
No. 3 Mount Vernon 3, No. 4 Olentangy Berlin 2
Cooper Carpenter was a master setting the ball for Mount Vernon when the Yellowjackets faced No. 4 Olentangy Berlin (18-7, 12-2) in the regional semifinals of the Division 1, Region 1 state tournament, putting up 48 assists and helping secure a difficult 3-2 win on May 17.
The Yellow Jackets opened the match on fire with a 25-13 win, but that was a different story in the second set. Mount Vernon and Berlin battled into extra points, but the Bears followed with a 26-24 win to tie things up. Mount Vernon won a close battle in set three 25-21 but then dropped a blowout loss 25-12 in set four. Mount Vernon finished out strong with a 25-6 win to send them to the regional finals.
Carpenter also had five kills, two blocks and six digs in the victory. Parker Gantt was the main recipient of the sets, smashing 22 kills and two aces to lead the offensive charge. He also had two blocks and three digs. Dash Lepley, as he has shown much of this season, showed off his strong defensive play with 17 digs. Zack Karns posted 15 kills, an ace, three blocks and four digs.
No. 1 Olentangy Liberty 3, No. 3 Mount Vernon 1
Parker Gantt continued to lead the offensive charge for No. 3 Mount Vernon with 16 kills, but No. 1 Olentangy Liberty (22-4, 14-0) proved to be too much and toppled the Yellow Jackets 3-1 on May 20 to knock them out of the Division 1 state tournament in the regional finals.
Mount Vernon started the match on the upside with a 25-23 win over the Patriots. Set two was anyone’s to win right to the end with a 25-22 victory for the Patriots. The next two sets were blowouts to finish off the Yellow Jackets, with scores of 25-14 and 25-15.
Gantt was the kills leader with 16, to go along with one block, 14 digs and two assists. Cooper Carpenter had 31 assists, eight digs, five kills and a block. Zack Karns put up 10 kills, two blocks and one dig. Ethan Cline had a solid performance with 10 digs and six kills, while Dash Lepley had 11 digs on defense.
The Jackets finished 15-7 and won 10 of their last 11 matches leading up to the final.
