Mexico’s seniors were the team’s ace in the hole last Tuesday night.

Mexico Senior Night Photo Gallery

The Lady Bulldogs picked up 18 service aces to sweep Brookfield (25-16, 25-15 and 25-16) on Gary Filbert Court for Senior Night. The five seniors — Addison Paden, Emily Moppin, Skyler Arnold, Sherlyn Mena Lopez and Zoey Schutte — honored before the varsity match have been an ace to the program in many other ways.

The victory broke a three-match losing streak for Mexico (11-10) but extended a 12-match winning streak against Brookfield (1-17) where the Lady Bulldogs have never lost a set. More importantly, it was the program’s 11th win this season to put them two behind the school record achieved with a 13-12-1 season in 2001. First-year head coach Kathryn French said it has been special to have this type of season in her first season but is definitely happier for the senior group in their final campaign.

“These girls are very passionate and very determined,” French said. “Getting to be able to see them enjoy their own success and watch them be the team that’s won the most since the early 2000s is amazing for me as a coach just to watch. It doesn’t even matter that I am the coach. It’s just watching these girls be happy, be successful and just love the sport even more.”

All of those seniors were in the starting lineup last Tuesday and had some sort of hand in the victory. Some of those seniors were among the stat leaders, including Moppin with team-high four aces to match Ava Herron and Claire Isgrig. Moppin had six kills to follow Jaclynn Cline’s 11 kills and 13 digs, which was just ahead of Arnold’s 11 digs to go with her three aces.

French simply calls her senior group “amazing” as she transitioned to a head coach and a volleyball coach all at once. The Lady Bulldogs have had several head coaches in recent years and managed to accumulate 16 wins in the past three years. As of last Tuesday, Mexico has a chance to at least tie the record with two more regular-season matches and districts this Thursday.

“Any coach when they come into a new program, they are looking for an upperclassman that’s going to help them,” French said. “This class — Skyler, Addison, Moppin, Zoey, Sherlyn — they’ve done a phenomenal job of not only helping their teammates, but helping me be the best coach that I can.”

The seniors basically had one word to describe their experience: friends. All of them were in the program for multiple seasons, including Arnold and Moppin for four years, Paden and Schutte for three years and Lopez for two years.

“It has meant so much because I have made so many good friends and so many good memories,” Paden said.

“This program has opened a lot of opportunities for me,” Moppin said. “It has had me make friendships I never would have thought I’d have. It was very fun.”

“I’m truly grateful to be part of this team, make these friends through ups and downs and stick together through everything,” Arnold said.

“Making new memories and friends that I grew up with since the fourth-grade volleyball team,” Schutte said. “It meant a lot.”

The seniors have been able to fall back on each other, and Mexico has been able to do the same with its full team. There were times the score was close last Tuesday, and Brookfield even had an 8-5 lead and 13-12 lead in the second set.

Arnold had two aces in the final four points Mexico won to lock up the first set. Moppin then went on a serving roll with three aces in the second set during a 5-0 Lady Bulldog run to come back and eventually take that second set, capped by 13-2 run. French said emotions played a factor since the Senior Night ceremony was held before varsity warmed up for its match.

“Even though tonight was another game, those emotions got a little heightened,” French said. “There were some tears before the game, but ultimately, what got us through was knowing what we’re capable of and trusting ourselves, getting productivity on the court.”

French said controlling the serve means Mexico is powerful on offense while controlling the pace and tempo. The Lady Bulldogs were at their best when they were doing that.

“The biggest thing is ball placement,” French said. “We don’t really call serves very often or spot serve very often. The girls are really good at finding those gaps themselves. Another thing is being powerful. Emily Moppin, Skyler Arnold and Jaclynn Cline all have very strong serves, and they’re really good at putting a serve into play that will throw the other team off.” 

Mexico -- now 12-10 after sweeping Marshall on Oct. 17 -- begins the Class 3 District 6 tournament this week in Winfield with a 6:15 p.m. match tonight. The Lady Bulldogs don’t know who they will be playing yet since the No. 2 seed they earned gave them a first-round bye, but it will be either Veritas Christian (9-9-3) or Wright City (3-20-1). Whatever happened beyond last Tuesday, Arnold said the Lady Bulldogs wanted that record-tying 13th win and the other seniors agreed.

“It’s very important, and we are thankful for it,” Arnold said. “These girls have always seemed so much older than us and now we’re excelling when we seemed like we were just little freshmen yesterday.”

“I always looked up to all the seniors before me,” Paden said. “Just to know we did just as good and to know I’ve grown into what they were means a lot.”

I feel very accomplished,” Moppin said. “We work hard, we get along and we’re very deserving of it.”

“We are pretty amazing,” Schutte said. “Looking up to all the seniors before definitely shows a lot of progress.”

Mexico hasn’t had a first-round bye or a district win since 2020 when the Lady Bulldogs were the No. 2 seed. They swept Centralia that season before losing in four sets to Kirksville for the championship.

“Looking back on the season, where we started back in July and where we are now, even in those short months, I’ve gotten to know them,” French said. “I’m very blessed to have even coached them for just one season.”