MCDONALD — Another volleyball season has come and gone for the Mathews Mustangs and their six seniors.

Chloe Simeon, Vivian Schwartz, MaKayla Tarr, Brooke DeBell, Isabella DelGarbino, Gianna Toto and the rest of the Mustangs fell to Dalton 25-7, 25-7, 25-7 in the first round of the Division IV tournament at McDonald on Wednesday.

Toto has been a machine, behind the line, missing just four serves all season. She also plays on the softball team, and she made honorable mention in the Northeastern Athletic Conference for volleyball this year.

“I’ve played volleyball at Mathews for six years now,” Toto said. “I’ve played since the seventh grade. It’s been a unique experience for all of us.

“We’re a family. We love each other. We’re all really close. I feel very lucky to have been a part of this team.”

Mathews has a lot of young talent including twin sisters, sophomores Mia and Ava DelGarbino.

“They both play a lot of sports,” said their sister Isabella DelGarbino. “Volleyball is my favorite sport. It’s really special to play it with them.

“All of the seniors are really close. They’re my best friends. That’s been my favorite part about it.”

The Mustangs got off to a good start, in the third set, when the score was tied 5-5. Mia DelGarbino served an ace. Junior Ava Clayton smacked one into the back corner, and junior Justine Detelich got an ace on one that tipped the top of the net.

“We’re in a rebuilding year,” Mathews coach Heather Sankey said. “We played a lot of young girls this year. We had thirty two girls come out. We had a freshman team. We have to work on our fundamentals for next season.”

The Dalton Bulldogs (12-11) are the number 8 seed and they’ll face East Palestine in the next round of the Division IV tournament at McDonald on Saturday.

“We’ve had our ups and downs this year,” said Dalton coach Allison Hostetler. “It was nice to get a good game under our belts. Especially, in the first tournament game.”