By PAUL T. WILCOXEN

paul.wilcoxen@register-news.com

FLORA — It is every coach’s dream to have a player who can change the dynamics of a game and on Monday night the Mt. Vernon Lady Rams ran into such a player in Flora’s Melanie Shehorn, who dominated up front to lead the Wolfgals to a two-game victory against Mt. Vernon, 25-16, 25-16.

“We’ve got a pretty good front line,” said Flora coach Jim Earleywine. “We’ve got some pretty big blockers. Once we put the ball in play we can handle it pretty good if they’re putting on a pretty good hitting team.”

The Lady Rams kept Game 1 competitive early on with a kill by Leamber Broady and a tip from Kathleen Sledge that helped Mt. Vernon to a 4-3 lead.

A kill by Shehorn put the Wolfgals even at 4-4, while a pair of aces from Alyssa Eastin and a tip by Katherine Deaton pushed Flora’s lead to 7-4.

“We try and take them out of their comfort zone,” said Earleywine. “We haven’t had much opportunity to do that this year because most of the time we’ve been on our heels.”

The Lady Rams tried to mount a comeback with an ace from Amy Dickerson that cut into Flora’s lead, 14-9..

Later, Mt. Vernon’s front-line duo of Sledge and Broady combined for a block and a 16-12 deficit. But kills from Shehorn and Hillary Johnson would not allow Mt. Vernon to complete its run.

A time-out by Mt. Vernon did little to slow the momentum by the Wolfgals, especially after an ace by Hannah Knapp and a block by Shehorn put Flora ahead, 23-14.

In the end an ace by Sledge would do little to detour a victory by Flora, especially after Johnson closed out the win on a kill.

“They looked good,” said Mt. Vernon mentor Bridget Ahlfield. “They (Flora) just got a lot of the breaks to where the ball would hit the floor.

“We kept hitting into the block. We need to go around the block. When you’re not used to a big block like that, I mean, not since Althoff have we seen blocks like that..”

In Game 2, Mt. Vernon led twice (both times early on), but eventually Flora took control.

The Lady Rams led 2-1 on a Wolfgal error and 3-2 after Sledge’s kill, but Shehorn continued to dictate what happened at the net with a kill, which led Flora to a 7-3 lead before Tessa England’s kill ended the rally.

“Defense is a very important part of the game,” said Earleywine. “You’re playing half defense, half offense most of the time. Your blockers put up their block and if they’re reading the hitting it frustrates the hitters, so the hitters have to do something different.”

Flora pushed its lead to 13-7 after a pair of aces from Shehorn, which led to a Lady Rams time-out.

From there, Katherine Deaton scored on a tip, while Kendal McGrew dropped a kill on the floor to extend the Wolfgals’ lead, 15-7.

Later in the game, Broady picked up a kill for the Lady Rams to pull Mt. Vernon to within 16-10, followed by a hitting error from Flora and a second kill by Broady to cut into the lead, 16-12.

But after a Flora side-out, the Wolfgals went on to net points on a tip by Mallori Dillon, and ace by Deaton and a kill by Johnson before Sledge powered her way to a kill and watch the Lady Rams trail, 20-13.

Coach Ahlfield did not feel her club was able to get into any kind of rhythm.

“It’s hard when we have no school,” said Ahlfield after watching her Lady Rams drop the match on Columbus Day. “I think maybe if we would have had school and stayed in our routine it would have been a little higher intensity. You take them out of one step of their routine and it’s just not good.”

The Lady Rams (5-14) will host Marion tonight.