ELLETTSVILLE — Bloomington South wants to be a volleyball team that never lets up from the service line. And so the Panthers had to take the good and live with the bad in that particular part of the game on Tuesday, Aug. 18 at the Mustang Corral in their annual battle with county rival Edgewood. South missed 16 serves but balanced that with 16 that the Mustangs couldn't touch or couldn't handle. The aggressive mindset can't change, but keeping serves in is one of the many things head coach Emma Abplanalp knows her team needs to shore up to meet its lofty goals. The Panthers are off to a 4-0 start after holding Edgewood at bay, 25-19, 25-20, 25-23. More: How Bloomington South football put together this year's schedule
"We train and we go in with aggressive serving," Abplanalp said. "We also don't want that many missed serves, but we also want to make them have to choose whether it's in or out. "I think, too, every gym is different. This gym, we call it floaty air. it just kind of grabs it and takes it. It's not an excuse, it's something we have to adjust to." At times, it was like watching a pitcher in baseball setting up a batter with changing speeds and locations. But Edgewood fired back when it had the chance. "They served really tough," Edgewood coach Sam Jones said. "We have been focusing a lot on serving as well and I thought we served tough at some different times tonight. For us to be able to go into the tournament and make a run, we know we're going to have to be able to beat that type of serving. "I liked our adjustments (in serve receive). I've got to give a lot of credit to my girls. I've given them a lot of autonomy (to make those changes)." South has a wealth of experience, talent and athleticism in six senior regulars back from a 28-7 team that tied the school record for wins and is aiming for much more this year.
Everly Clark ace. 18-9 South. Timeout Mustangs. pic.twitter.com/BngISRmmo4 — Jim Gordillo (@JimGordillo) August 19, 2026 Each time Edgewood tried to rally or take the lead, South made something good happen. When a 16-11 lead shrank to 17-15 in set 1, South rattled off the next five points. When Edgewood scored three in a row to get within 19-18 in set 2, South didn't give up another offensive point. And in set 3, after Edgewood went on a stunning 9-1 run and eventually tied it at 21, then scored twice to get it to 24-23, South finished. "I have a great group of focused girls," Abplanalp said. "Even the ones who are first-year varsity players, they're focused. They come off, it's easy to get them back on what we need to be executing in the huddle. They want to win." South had some ups and down, so finding greater consistency and a killer instinct is a must as the road moves on toward sectional. But Abplanalp is not worried that all the work, in the weight room, invested in club ball in the off-season, will be wasted. "This is a new year," Abplanalp said. "I think it's great they have some experience under their belts, but they're also eager to keep learning and growing as a team."
Edgewood seeing how the pieces fit It was just a bit too much for the Mustangs (1-1), who are building a new lineup around their top returning players in seniors setter Jenna Abram, middle Ella LaRoche and libero Kellanys Rosario-Aguilar. Credit Edgewood for it's resilience. Down two sets, a run of five straight serves from Harper Rahn that the Mustangs couldn't return made it 9-3. Disheartening for sure, but Edgewood didn't back down as LaRoche picked her team up with three consecutive aces in the big run back. "We're trying to be process oriented right now," Jones said. "Because a lot of people, in year's past, have been results oriented. They focused so much on what the end result is and we lose sight of whether we're taking the right process to get to that point. Our girls in practice have been focused a lot more on fundamental things and just doing things the right way. "I loved our response. all together. At different points, because of how good they are, they made us really uncomfortable. But I told them, our goal is to go make them uncomfortable, too. I think we accomplished that."
Edgewood on a 9-1 run behind three straight aces from Ella LaRoche. Panthers take timeout up just 19-18. pic.twitter.com/IqSrqaQ7XV — Jim Gordillo (@JimGordillo) August 19, 2026 The night was a good one for Edgewood to test itself in a playoff like atmosphere against some familiar faces and certainly one of the area's top teams. "They all play against each other and they love so many of the girls on (South) because they play so much club ball together," Jones said. "So, it's a special thing for them because they're getting a chance to compete against people they share a gym with for probably six months of the year." This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington South holds off Edgewood in early season volleyball battle