Mount Vernon, Mo. (For OzarksSportsZone.com)  -- The Mount Vernon Lady Mountaineers did not find much of a challenge from the Cassville Lady Wildcats on Tuesday night.  Mt. Vernon easily swept the Big 8 Conference volleyball match by scores of 25-11 and 25-17.

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Mountaineer coach Bridgett Schmutz was especially pleased with the result, considering the changes she had to make to her team in the previous 24 hours.

“It was good for us putting in a new lineup yesterday,” Schmutz said.  “We were missing our starting middle, Tamiaya Henderson, who’s out with a sore shoulder.  So we put in a new lineup yesterday, and I thought the team responded really well.

“We looked good for the most part; had to work out a few kinks just moving people into new positions.  But overall, I thought they did a good job.”

Mt. Vernon clearly dictated the pace in the first set, which was keyed by a seven-point run off the service of senior defensive specialist Audrey LaSalle.  That put the Mountaineers up 18-8 at the time.

The second set saw Mt. Vernon pull away early as junior Savana Swan served up 10 straight points (including two aces) to go up 15-4.  Longtime Mountaineer fans had to be surprised not only to see Swan at the backline, but also delivering at net.

“Savana’s never served for us before,” Schmutz revealed.  “She’s never played middle; this is her first time playing middle all season, and definitely her first time serving this season.  So she had some of those girls not really sure whether that ball was going to be in or out.  She had a few nice drops there, so that was really cool.”

“It’s all right, it’s a good feeling,” Swan said about her performance.

Junior Kelby Myers was another major player on the Mt. Vernon offense.

“Kelby Myers really got on fire there,” praised Schmutz.  “They had a single block, so she just was taking advantage of that.

“Our other players stepped up.  The defense did a good job of getting the ball to our setters in a good position.  Our setters did a nice job of putting the ball where the hitters like.”

Despite the loss, Cassville coach Jennifer Nichols was not down on her team.

“We struggled there for a little bit, but we didn’t give up in the end; we pushed through all the way to the end,” said Nichols.  “I’m proud of them for that.

“They kept fighting and serving hard.  Our defense played well tonight.  We’re working on trying to get those serves more consistent.

“We’re doing better trying to get to the block and trying to get touches on balls.  We’re coming along.  We’ve just got a few more things we need to work on.”