Titans volleyball continues roll through league with wins

Catch the action Saturday, September 20

The season is proving to be one of polar opposites for the Lady Titan volleyball team.

Last year, the Titans didn’t come close to their allotted 19 matches due to forfeits; this year they had to turn down games.
Last year, there were so few players that some played both varsity and junior varsity; this year, 26 athletes comprise the roster. And after 16 hours on the road and four matches two weekends ago, the Titans faced and soundly defeated the Centennial Rams on their own home court Friday, September 12 in less than an hour.
The Titans overpowered the Rams 25-10 in the first game with a more experienced line-up, with senior co-captain Kaitlin Councilman and junior Hillari Spencer both going on six-point serving runs with two aces apiece. Coach Marla Covey then switched things up for the second and third games, which the Titans won 25-14 and 25-12.
In the second game of the match, sophomore libero Asya Stillo swapped for junior Allison Turner as she moved to the back row on the third point and ultimately served for nine points. Junior Kelsey Beltz, too, put several points on the board, plus a kill and a block, and sophomore Shannon Holleran called for sets all over the court, achieving success with both her left and right hands.
And in the third, with a different offensive strategy where Spencer and Councilman split the setting responsibilities, senior Chelsea Dill, senior co-captain Katie Vandervoort, and sophomore Karleigh Dean all put a number of points on the board off their serves. The Titan serves proved to be key in their victory.
The reality is that the stats tell the story of the match: one dig, one block, 12 aces, and 20 kills mean easy three-pass volleyball and set-up after set-up on Rams overpasses and free balls.
“With very few home matches this year, it’s nice for all the players to see action and contribute to the win,” says Covey. “It’s hard to get the girls to maintain a level of intensity in a slower-paced match, but that’s something we work on in practice. With more teams in the new league the caliber of play is going to vary greatly and our team has to be ready. This weekend we have two tough matches. Creede is a team with some solid athletic players, and Sierra Grande we edged out in a tight five game battle in that marathon tournament. This upcoming weekend may determine the overall league winner, so we need to work hard and stay focused.”
The Lady Titans head to Creede on Friday, September 19 and then return to Crested Butte for a home match against Sierra Grande on Saturday, September 20 at 1:30 p.m.