By SCOTT HUNT shunt@chronicle-tribune.com
FAIRMOUNT — Madison-Grant gave a shot-making exhibition and took its next step towards a Central Indiana Conference volleyball championship with a sweep of Mississinewa on Wednesday night.
The Argylls (6-4, 2-0 in CIC) won their fifth-straight match and halted the Indians (9-6, 1-1) five-game win streak in the process with a 25-15, 25-23, 25-21 decision.
M-G recorded 43 total kills among its 75 points for the match and used a variety of shots to achieve that total.
Senior Demie Havens was M-G’s leader with 15 kills and often showed her experience and court vision by landing well-placed touched shots in unoccupied court space in the Indians defense. Havens also unleashed some powerful swings the either found the floor or tipped off an Ole Miss defender.
“If she makes a shot, she can almost always get a kill because of what she sees. … She is really smart,” said M-G coach Kayla Jump of Havens. “I attribute that to her being around so much. She knows and understands. It’s really just putting her mind and her play and everything together to make it happen.”
Argylls’ freshman Grace Wood added 10 kills and two blocks while senior Johnna Hiatt and junior Camryn Bolser put down eight kills apiece. Hiatt also had four blocks, six digs, two aces and a dozen assists.
It’s really no surprise that M-G started its current win streak when Hiatt returned to the lineup. She missed the first six matches of the Argylls’ 2-4 start to the season while recovering from an injury. Hiatt made her season debut on Sept. 3 for Madison-Grant’s 3-1 win at Eastbrook in the CIC opener.
Hiatt spent the last two years playing as a middle hitter in M-G’s attack and played an important role in the last two of four-straight sectional championships, but she was moved into the setter position this season, though she affects the game in numerous ways.
“When we started the season and she wasn’t playing we talked about where she fell into being a leader and not playing and what it would transition into,” Jump said of Hiatt, who will play softball at Indiana Wesleyan starting next year. “ … She gives us a little bit of calmness. She’s not a loud cheerleader. She kind of has her own way of doing things and we’re kind of letting her do it like that.
“Sometimes people expect the leaders to be the most outlandish type of person and that’s not her personality. She does it in her own way and I think that works for us.”
Madison-Grant put together a 6-1 run early in the first set to go up 11-6 and maintained a mostly comfortable advantage throughout. Ole Miss pulled within three four different times, the last at 18-15, before senior Lia Mezzi served the final seven points and Havens recorded three kills to help the Argylls close the set.
The second set was tightly contested throughout. M-G held on to a slim lead until a 3-0 spurt put the Argyllson top 17-13. However, Ole Miss followed with its best run of the match, an 8-2 stretch, to go up 21-19 and then 22-20. But the Argylls stayed poised and scored five of the last six points to go up 2-0.
The third set was tied five times between the first serve and it being 10-10, but the Argylls used a 6-1 run to gain some separation. Undaunted, Ole Miss scored five-straight to close within 16-15 before M-G pulled back away with four-consecutive points to start another 6-1 run and the Indians got no closer than four the rest of the way.
“Madison-Grant was pushing and picking on our weakness. One point they would tip and then they swung,” said Ole Miss coach Victoria Dittmar. “A lot of the balls they were swinging at hit right at the line or we didn’t know if it was in our out. Their ball placement, that’s a very smart team and they were able to pick their spots.”
Senior Zoe Smith led the Indians with five kills and two blocks, unofficially, while senior Kiersten Planck added four kills. Junior Brooklynn Nash added three kills, two blocks and an ace.
Jump said part of M-G’s strategy entering the match against Ole Miss was for the Argylls to survey and be more selective about the shots they wanted to hit.
“I’m always going to think that we need to be more physical. We need to jump higher and swing faster, those kinds of things. Mentally, we need to stay focused on what our weaknesses and strengths are,” Jump said, noting that Argylls’ also need to figure out the same in their opponents. “It is a huge deal for us. I think when we start figuring that out … it’s who can play smarter. We’re not any different. That’s really what we’re focusing on is playing a lot smarter than we have been.”
Madison-Grant entered into Madison County tournament play on Thursday with a pair of matches and the Argylls will concluded their chase for a county championship on Saturday at Elwood. M-G returns to CIC play Tuesday at Oak Hill.
Mississinewa competes in the Rossville Hornet Invite on Saturday afternoon, and then travels to Alexandria to resume CIC play on Tuesday.