At the end of Thursday’s match, Mexico volleyball thought it could’ve done more and believes that is true for next season.
The Lady Bulldogs were swept by No. 1 seed St. Francis Borgia, who …
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At the end of Thursday’s match, Mexico volleyball thought it could’ve done more and believes that is true for next season.
The Lady Bulldogs were swept by No. 1 seed St. Francis Borgia, who had its second straight 22-win season, in the Class 3 District 6 semifinals in Fulton. They lost 25-9, 25-5, 25-8 in the first meeting between the two schools.
Mexico (7-19) was coming off its own sweep of Bowling Green two days prior for its first district win since 2020. The Lady Bulldogs tied the first set with Borgia (23-13-1) at 3 after senior Camy Blackburn’s hit was just within the back line, but then it was all Borgia after that.
"We weren't doing a lot of three contacts that ended with a swing," head coach Tami Sells said. "We were sending over free balls or tipping it over when we should've been swinging for a harder hit. We were playing it too safe at times instead of being fearless and aggressive."
Sells said emotions played a part in Thursday’s match. It’s true that Borgia is a tough team, but she wanted to see more competitive play from Mexico.
Still, Mexico was a young team this season with six upperclassmen compared to eight seniors for Borgia. The Lady Bulldogs had five more wins and showed growth from last season to reflect the better record. In the win against Bowling Green, Julia Goerne led with 14 assists, Parker Howell led with 17 digs and Averee Hampton had 12 digs, and Charley Jackson and Savannah Murray each led with five kills.
“When we think about where we were at the end of May when we first started getting together until now, a lot of athletes have grown a lot,” Sells said. “We truly still have a young varsity team like usually we have one to two freshmen playing on varsity and several sophomores. There is a lot of growth still to happen, but already where they are, I’m extremely proud of them.”
Sells said there was a more positive outlook from the team in the summer based on how they competed in summer scrimmages. A big reason why, she said, that carried into the season was communication.
“More friendships were built and trust in one another are those types of things that really matter when it comes to playing as a team,” Sells said. “Otherwise, we’re just all individuals out there trying to do our own thing. It’s not about individual stats, but the whole team coming together for a win.”
That mentality was clear at certain moments, Sells said, and the matches against Marshall demonstrate this. In Mexico’s fifth match, it beat Marshall in five sets at home despite narrowly losing the fourth set 26-24. Fast forward to its second meeting with Marshall right before districts, the Lady Bulldogs beat the Lady Owls in four sets on the road after winning the first two sets.
“They ended up taking one set from us, and we were like, ‘No, this isn’t going to happen,’” Sells said. “The whole team came together to rally around to pull off the next win. It’s instances like that where we stop just having fun and set something up and play together as a team.”
When Mexico faces the Borgias of next season, Sells said she would like to see this mentality come out to play among the girls who are returning. She wants them to come back with “a stronger competitive attitude” and thinks there is still “a ways to go” after they have “made strides.”
“We still shut down sometimes against a good team like (Thursday),” Sells said. “That’s an area I hope we really improve on for next year: Become even more mentally strong.”
Three girls who won’t be back will be the seniors Blackburn, Jackson and Layla Belcher. These girls have made history in their four years in Mexico. They were part of the 12-win team in 2024 that had the program’s most wins since 2001 and were on the team last week that broke the district losing streak.
Sells said the seniors “hold a special place” in her heart and each contributed in different ways. She said she will miss all that makes them different and the camaraderie that makes the team one.
“They all have distinct personality traits that really help bring the team together,” Sells said. “All three of them are girls who are good team players. They’re good leaders in that way.”
