The Fairfield volleyball team delivered a memorable senior night on Tuesday, September 22nd, defeating rival conference foe Mount Pleasant 3-1 with set scores of 25-17, 25-23, 24-26, and 25-20 to earn their first conference win of the season. The victory was especially sweet given that Fairfield had lost to Mount Pleasant twice earlier this season — 2-1 at the Grinnell tournament on August 29th and 2-0 at the Ottumwa tournament in their last time in action on Saturday, September 19th. When it mattered most, in the conference match on senior night in front of their home crowd, the Trojans got the one that counted.
Fairfield’s senior class honored on the night includes managers Jacey Harris and Jaden Haynes, along with players Leah Helmick, Frances Miller, Ella Bentler, Natalie Steele, and Bella Buckley — who, despite still recovering from a fractured hand, was able to start and substitute out early in the match to make an appearance on her senior night.
Set 1
Fairfield came out with energy and intent, jumping to a 6-1 lead off an ace from Lexi Mast to open and another from Ava McArtor to extend. The Trojans continued to pull away, with a Leah Helmick ace pushing the lead to 10-5 and forcing Mount Pleasant’s first timeout at 11-5. An Ireland Cranston kill and two more Helmick aces extended the advantage to 14-5. Mount Pleasant fought back to cut the lead to 14-10 before Fairfield called their own timeout to steady things. The Trojans responded well, extending back out to 18-12 with Mast serving, prompting a second Mount Pleasant timeout. Natalie Steele came alive at the end, reeling off three kills — at 19-15, 21-15, and 22-15 — before Helmick added a kill at 23-16 and Fairfield closed out the set 25-17 to go up 1-0.
Set 2
Mount Pleasant came out firing in the second set, jumping to a 4-1 lead before Helmick answered with a kill. The Panthers extended to 7-2 before Helmick added an ace and Cranston added a kill to tie the set at 7-7, forcing a Mount Pleasant timeout. Fairfield pushed ahead to 10-7 before Mount Pleasant responded, tying it up at 12-12 and eventually taking the lead. Down 16-14, a Helmick kill stopped the bleeding and sparked a rally, with Fairfield clawing back to tie it at 18-18 and force a second Mount Pleasant timeout. The teams traded points deep into the set, with a Cranston kill tying it at 19-19, before Mount Pleasant edged ahead 23-21 and forced back-to-back Fairfield timeouts to be called. Fairfield answered with four consecutive kills with Steele and Helmick going back-and-forth for the last four points to close out the set 25-23 and go up 2-0.
Set 3
Steele opened the third set with a kill and Fairfield built momentum from there, with a Steele ace pushing the lead to 5-4 and a Helmick kill extending it to 6-4, forcing Mount Pleasant’s first timeout. After the stoppage, Steele added another ace to make it 9-4 as the Trojans continued to pull away. A Cranston kill made it 11-7 and a kill from Helmick pushed it to 12-8. From there the Panthers found their rhythm, tying the set at 12-12 and forcing a Fairfield timeout before continuing their run to lead 18-14. Fairfield refused to fold — four consecutive Helmick kills, at 15-18, 17-19, 19-20, and 21-21, tied the set and forced a second Mount Pleasant timeout. The teams traded points to the end, with Fairfield calling their second timeout down 23-21 before the Panthers pushed ahead to 24-21 at set point. The Trojans dug deep, surviving three set points to claw back and tie it at 24-24 and force extra points — but ultimately could not hang on, falling 26-24 at the finish line and narrowly missing the sweep.
Set 4
Mount Pleasant jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth set before Fairfield steadily rallied back to tie it at 3-3 with Ava McArtor on a service run. A Helmick kill pushed Fairfield ahead 4-3, and an Ella Bentler kill extended the lead to 5-3. The teams traded points until Bentler added another kill to make it 7-5, and from there Fairfield continued to build. A Steele kill at 11-9 was followed by a McArtor ace that pushed the lead to 12-9 and forced a Mount Pleasant timeout. Steele answered with back-to-back kills to make it 14-9 and effectively put the set out of reach. Fairfield pushed the lead to 19-15 to force a second Mount Pleasant timeout, and a Cranston kill off a Kate Brecount service run extended it to 20-15. Helmick and Steele each added kills down the stretch — Helmick at 22-17 and Steele at 23-18 — before Fairfield closed out the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.
Stats
Leah Helmick led the offense with 20 kills, followed by Natalie Steele with 12, Ireland Cranston with eight, Ella Bentler with five, Grace Hellweg with three, and Lexi Mast and Frances Miller with one each. The team recorded 25 kill errors and a .169 kill efficiency. Mast set a season-high with 46 assists, surpassing 200 assists on the season in the process.
On the service line, Helmick led with six aces, followed by Ava McArtor and Steele with two each and Mast with one. Miller, Steele, and Helmick all served at 100 percent on the night. The team served at 95.7 percent efficiency.
In the back row, Frances Miller led with 23 digs, followed by Helmick with 19, Mast with 15, Kate Brecount with 13, Ava McArtor with 12, Steele with five, and Hellweg and Bentler with two each.
On blocks, Steele led with four blocks and three block assists, including one solo block. Bentler added three blocks and three block assists. Cranston and Hellweg each contributed one block and one block assist.
Both Steele and Helmick surpassed 100 kills on the season during the match.
Coach Rebling’s Thoughts
Head Coach Vicki Rebling was pleased with the way her team competed through the emotions of senior night. “I was pleased with how we started the night with high energy and aggressive swings. Being senior night there are several emotions to work through and making sure we could push through the adrenaline rush was imperative in the first set,” Rebling said. “We were able to overcome a slow start in set 2 and just kept battling every point — we didn’t give up and had a couple of good serving runs. I knew after set 3 we needed to come back out like we did at the beginning of the night.”
Rebling praised the contributions from across the roster. “Grace did a nice job for us on the outside tonight. Ireland is being more aggressive in the middle, which we all love to see. Natalie and Leah are constant workhorses for us. Lexi continues to do well distributing the ball. Players were instrumental tonight on the sideline communicating and cheering on teammates and keeping our energy level up. It’s a total team effort and it takes all of us on any given night.”
She also highlighted the night’s significance for the senior class. “I am happy for the seniors to get a conference victory on their home court in front of another amazing crowd and student section. The seniors are a fantastic bunch and share joy with each other and really feed off of each other’s success and intensity.” Rebling also shared an update on setter Bella Buckley, who has been sidelined with a fractured hand. “We are looking forward to getting Bella into more of the practice situations and game-like play now that her hand has had some time to heal. She’s definitely anxious to get back on the court.”
Rebling added that the win extended beyond the varsity level. “It was a great night for our entire program — winning 9th, JV, and varsity.”
Leah Helmick Comments
Helmick reflected on what winning on senior night meant to her. “It has been something I’ve dreamed of since freshman year — it meant so much to do that with my team and with their help throughout it all,” she said.
On the senior class, Helmick spoke to the bond they have built over years of playing together. “This group of seniors is such a tight knit group. We know how to work as one and flow in the game. Being together in travel ball and school ball gave us that potential.”
On her individual performance, Helmick credited her serving as the key factor on the night. “My serving was working very well for me so I knew when I got the opportunity I had to take it to my advantage to help my team. Taking hard swings and using ball placement helped me tremendously. Letting go of the mistakes and moving on is something I learned over the years.”
On bouncing back after two losses to Mount Pleasant earlier in the season, Helmick said the team knew what needed to change. “After losing to Mount Pleasant twice it was definitely hard to come back, but we knew that in order to win that game we had to take as many hard swings as we could and really capitalize on our serving — as the past two times we played them, we really struggled on serving and taking hard swings.”
Natalie Steele Comments
Steele reflected on what the night meant to her and her fellow seniors. “It meant the world to finish up our home games with a win, especially on senior night with the girls I have played with forever,” Steele said. “The group of seniors with me have played volleyball with me my whole life — to be able to tough it out for so long shows truly how much we enjoy playing this sport and playing with each other.” On her individual performance, Steele said her tips and swings were working alongside strong blocking efforts from the team. “I think we showed up ready to play and that helped us pull through tonight’s win. Everyone wanted it badly and the student section showed up and showed out, which helped us get energy to get through the match.”
Fairfield improves to 6-14 overall and 1-3 in conference play. Mount Pleasant falls to 10-10 overall and 2-2 in conference. Fairfield returns to conference action with momentum on Tuesday, September 29th at Keokuk.
