MOUNT VERNON — The Fredericktown High School girls volleyball team dominated the Mid-Buckeye Conference standings this year, and the accolades came in bunches. The Mount Vernon News has selected senior Mackenzie Logan as the Area Player of the Year, and head coach Marilyn Rutherford as the Area Coach of the Year.
Logan was one of Fredericktown’s outstanding core of players. She was also a big part of the team’s success and was a major force in the MBC.
“Mackenzie is a leader on the floor and brought trust and confidence to the team,” said Rutherford. “She understood the game and did an excellent job in the back row. In the front row as a hitter, other coaches have commented on how difficult she is to read and how difficult she is to stop. When you have someone like that on your team, you love hearing those comments.”
Logan definitely caught the attention of other coaches and players. She was named the MBC Player of the Year, and truly was a player other teams had to game plan around. If they didn’t factor Logan into the equation, they usually were sent home pretty quickly.
“Watching Mackenzie grow up, we knew she was going to be someone special,” said Rutherford. “She has been around the game of volleyball for her whole life. It’s all she has known. She knew she had to work hard at the game to be successful. She has done that, and now gets to reap the benefits.”
Life without the four-year starter is going to be a big adjustment for the Freddies. Logan was a big part of the team’s highly successful year, and players of her caliber do not come around every year. The team returns many of its players, but will feel the loss of its standout senior leader.
“She is going to be tough to replace, but at the same time she has left a mark,” Rutherford said. “I think the younger players have watched Mackenzie and they know that she has worked hard at the game. If that is the mark she has left, kids like that make my job that much easier.”
Logan was just one of the pieces to a team that had only one conference loss this year and swept away nearly all of its competition. Without the coaching capabilities of Rutherford, the Freddies may not have had enjoyed the success they did. Fredericktown finished the year with a 19-2 record, with only one loss in the MBC and made a strong run into the postseason under Rutherford’s leadership.
“I think this was a great season,” said Rutherford. “The way we finished out with one loss in the regular season showed what kind of talent I had to work with. I had a strong squad last year and graduated four seniors who were key players. This group came in and put it all out there. They put together an amazing season and a lot of credit goes to this group.
“This was a very easy team to coach,” continued Rutherford. “It didn’t matter the simplicity of a drill I brought in, they made the most of it. At the end of the season, if the kids don’t want the season to end and they had fun and are willing to work at it in the offseason, I think that is the sign of a good team and a successful season. I definitely had that this season.”
Rutherford has had many successful seasons at the helm of the Fredericktown squad, and this year’s team ranks right up there with the best of the best. The team fought hard in every contest, and never really seemed to slow down all year. Next year’s team has some huge shoes to fill, but with Rutherford coaching and the players returning, the future again looks bright for the Freddies.
“With their record they rank right up there with some of the strongest teams I have coached,” said Rutherford. “In their level of competition and knowledge of the game, they are ranked really high. We are looking forward to next season, the girls will be ready to go.”
