By Noah Dalton
ORLEANS – Mitchell High School earned their ninth win of the season and their seventh in a row, beating Orleans on Monday, 3-0.
Though it was a clean sweep, the matchup between the Bluejackets and Bulldogs was much closer than that score would indicate, with Mitchell dominating the first set, 25-9, before coming from behind to win close matchups in the final two, 25-23 and 25-21.
Monday’s games were similar to this year’s previous matchup between the two schools on Aug. 19, which resulted in another Bluejackets victory, 2-0. Mitchell dominated the first set on that day 25-9, before winning in much more contested fashion in the second, 25-19.
Mitchell head coach Scott Saunders said that he anticipated a stronger performance from his team heading into this game, but ultimately felt they lacked focus until their backs were placed against the wall by Orleans.
“We just played these guys on Saturday. The first game on Saturday, we beat these guys pretty bad and got sloppy in the second game and then we turn around and do the same thing tonight. You know, we win the 25-9, of go in cruise mode and they picked it up and they did some nice things and I thought mentally we weren’t focused enough until it was time to win and then we decided to focus,” he said.
According to Saunders, freshman Jenna Allen turned in a monsterous performance, aiding them on the way to their win. She finished with a team-high 11 kills on 31 attempts. Just behind her was senior Brooke Reynolds with 10 kills on 25 attempts.
“I thought Jenna had monster game today all around. I think she did some nice things, so that was good to see,” he said.
Having turned in a strong season thus far, Saunders wants to see his team compete for championships, including the Patoka Lake Athletic Conference, where they currently hold on undefeated 2-0 record, and later the sectional. In order to do so though, he feels the time will need to iron out some of their inconsistencies throughout the remainder of the season.
“We’re 9-1 and probably sort of where we should be. You know, we could have lost another win there but we’re looking at big picture and as a coaching staff and hopefully as a team, we want to challenge for the PLAC and challenge for the sectional, and you can’t win those being up and down,” said Saunders.
“Because it will snake and will come back to you eventually. The key point is we’ve got to be focused on one play at a time. Don’t focus on winning the championship, focus on winning the next play. If we focus on winning the next play, then we’ll get enough points for that championship.”
They’ll have an opportunity to do just that when they travel to Brownstown on Saturday, where they’ll compete in tournament play against East Central (6-2), Columbus East (1-2) and Brownstown Central (1-2).
“We’ll probably be the underdog team in all four matches and I think that’s good for us. I think we need to scratch and fight a little bit and see what what we’re really made of,” said Saunders.
