Mustangs take first set, were close in second before falling 2-1
LITTLE EGG HARBOR – The Mainland Mustangs volleyball team won the first of three sets in the South Jersey Group III sectional final Tuesday night, Nov. 8, putting 2021 sectional champion Pinelands Regional on its heels. The Wildcats were able to regroup, take a close second set 25-21 before dominating the third set 25-12 to win the title.
The No. 2 seed Mustangs trailed 19-14 in the first set, but were able to storm back and win it 25-23 in a raucous gymnasium in the Pinelands, where fans from Mainland Regional High School traded loud cheers, chants and taunts with Wildcat supporters.
“This is a huge game and this is the first time Mainland has ever been in the South Jersey finals,” Mustang Sydney Booth said, “so this meant a lot to us and we didn’t we didn’t want to lose.”
“They had determination,” Mainland head coach Erica Reis said of her Mustangs.
“Pinelands is a good team, they’re very well-known, they have more experience playing for championships than we do, and I think that helped them out today to stay together,” she added.
The Mustangs led most of the way in the second set before the Wildcats rallied to tie the match up at 1-1.
The home team then jumped out to a commanding 12-2 lead in the third set that proved too much for the Mustangs to overcome.
“When we serve well we play well,” Pinelands coach Kathy Bennett said, “and we win games. We did not serve well in the first game at all. So we had to get our serves back in order again.
“We’re tough, we’re relentless. They kept grinding, kept grinding, and in the third game we served well,” Bennett said.
“I think the pressure of being in this high-level game got to us a little,” Reis said. “That’s the one thing Pinelands had over us. They’ve been in these games before; we have not.”
“We fell apart in the second set,” Booth said. “We made mistakes and we just couldn’t come back from them. They were small mistakes but they majorly impacted us.”
The Wildcats were excellent in front of the net throughout, particularly Olivia Benson.
“I thought they gave us a lot of free balls,” Bennett said, “so we had the opportunity to set our girls up to swing and score. At the net we have some big presence. We might not look big but we have a big presence.”
“We worked on blocking this week,” Reis said. “We did a lot, but Pinelands had it together a little more than us and they executed more than us. We kind of fell apart.”
Mainland came that close to claiming its first-ever sectional title, while Pinelands won its second straight.
“It feels great,” Bennett said. “This is awesome. This is only the second time we’ve won it here and only the third sectional title in school history.”
“We had a great season, but next year we’re going to start working more and we’re going to come out even stronger,” Reis said.
The Mustang girls finished the season with an 18-5 record (14-2 in the Cape-Atlantic League). Pinelands improved to 19-8 (12-4 Shore league) and moved on to the state tournament.
“It was a really great season,” Booth said. “All the girls were really good, we had really close bonds with everyone. That’s, I think, why our team played so well. In the end, I think we did great even if we didn’t win.”
Plenty of Mainland faithful traveled to cheer their team on, as both teams were well-represented in the stands.
“That was awesome to have our fans come out,” Reis said. “That helped us a lot. The energy was big.”
“I’m glad they came out and cheered as loud as they could,” Booth said.
“This is the best crowd ever,” Bennett said. “I know there was a lot for Mainland, too. We’re off this week from school, so to see all of our students come out and support us – that means a lot. That’s awesome.”
Mainland plans to be back next year.
“We’re going to come back ten times stronger,” Booth said.
Benson recorded 13 kills for the Wildcats and Bella DeRichie led the Mustangs with 4.
Mainland’s Denver Obermeyer recorded 5 blocks and teammate Sadie Kent has 8 assists.
Wildcat Olivia Shertenlieb had 33 assists and teammate Emilia Savich had 2 blocks.
The overall numbers favored the Wildcats over the Mustangs 36 to 8 in kills; 64 to 17 in digs, 36 to 8 in assists, 33 to 14 in service points and 12 to 2 in aces. The Mustangs did top Pinelands in one category, recording 7 blocks compared to 3 for the Wildcats.
Pinelands was the top seed in the sectional, beating Toms River East 2-0 and No. 4 Toms River South 2-1 on the way to the finals. Mainland beat Hammonton 2-0 and Shawnee 2-0.
Both teams earned byes in the first round.
Mustangs stats
for the season
Among the season team leaders, DeRichie, a junior, led with 99 kills. She also had 47 digs, 3 blocks, 61 service points and 30 aces.
Obermeyer, also a junior, led the team in blocks with 38, had 32 kills, 50 service points and 44 aces.
Junior Sadie Kent had 215 assists, 111 service points, 33 aces and 9 kills.
Booth, another junior, recorded 60 service points, 40 aces and 37 kills.
Senior Ava Jamison had 32 kills, 13 blocks, 24 digs, 59 service points and 23 aces.
Junior Kassandra Bretones had 34 kills, 22 blocks, 43 service points and 13 aces.
Senior Caroline Moyer led the team with 79 digs. She also had 11 kills.
Senior Maddie Simon had 21 digs and 4 assists.
With a strong core of juniors, including the leaders in kills, blocks and assists, the Mustangs should be formidable again next season.
Photos by DAVID NAHAN, story by KYLE McCRANE/Sentinel Sports
