Mount de Sales spikes No. 1, wins the Bulldog
There’s an axiom in sports that if you want to be No. 1 then you need to beat No. 1. Mount de Sales' volleyball team not only did that Saturday at North Caroline High School, they did even more.
The No. 3 Sailors defeated top-ranked Centennial in the quarterfinals, No. 2 Broadneck in the semifinals, and No. 4 River Hill in the championship to win the Bulldog Invitational Volleyball tournament. The tournament annually features most of the top teams in the state of Maryland.
“We lost to River Hill in pool play, but that just fired us up even more,” Sailors coach Monica Owensby said. “Our goal was to beat either No. 1-ranked Centennial or No. 2-ranked Broadneck. As it turns out, we did both.”
Senior Katy Buck, a first-team All Metro performer last year, led Mount de Sales. Buck had 20 kills in the Centennial win, five kills and nine digs in the semifinal win over Broadneck, and 16 kills and 14 digs in the championship versus River Hill.
The Sailors made it to the finals of the tournament last season, only to lose to Centennial in the championship. Owensby, then the assistant coach, said she learned from the experience last season.
“I changed our offense for Centennial on Friday figuring we’d see them again,” Owensby said. “As it turned out, it worked. I told the girls we can’t be intimidated, and the intensity has to be there on every point. Fortunately, it was.”
Owensby took over for Kenny Mills, The Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro Coach of the Year last season, and has the Sailors rolling up wins in the IAAM A Conference. In regular-season matches, Mount de Sales is 5-0. Still, the feat the Sailors pulled off on Saturday night is special one for the rookie head coach.
“I think it’s just starting to sink in now,” said Owensby. “We not only beat the best team in the area, we beat the No. 2 team and the No. 4 team also -- and we did it all on the same day. That’s pretty special.”
--Mike Frainie
