The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Avenge loss with win in first round of Districts
The Crested Butte Lady Titans volleyball squad can either be red hot or ice cold, sometimes during one set let alone from match to match.
Such was the case this past week as the Lady Titans headed to the San Luis Valley for their final regular season match and the first two rounds of district play.
Home court advantage was on the line Friday, October 22 in Antonito. A win and the Lady Titans would host the first match of district play. A loss would mean returning to Antonito two days later for the first match of post-season play.
The Lady Titans took the first set Friday night in decisive fashion, winning 25-14 before the Antonito hometown crowd.
Antonito then took the next two games 25-19, 25-24 scoring numerous points off well-placed tips.
Karleigh Dean led the team in the fourth set, serving 11 points in a row as the Lady Titans won 25-16 forcing a fifth set, but Antonito recovered enough to take the final set 15-12 and win the match.
“We hit well but got frustrated with ourselves as has been our problem of late,” says Coach Marla Covey. “We would get a good run and then let teams back in.”
The bad news, the loss meant the Lady Titans would return to Antonito on Monday, October 25 for the first round of district play.
The good news, with insight into Antonito’s style, Covey and the squad made the adjustments necessary to exact revenge upon the Antonito team.
After a long road trip through the driving snow, the Crested Butte team struggled to get going, dropping the first set 25-20. But with the bus ride shaken off for good, the Lady Titans rebounded to win the next three sets 25-15, 25-12, 25-18.
Shannon Holleran and Dean led the team with 12 and 10 kills each. Sara Sherman tallied five blocks and Asya Stillo put together a key eight-point serving run in the third set.
“We altered our defensive scheme a little since we knew they prefer to tip versus hit,” says Covey. “That seemed to free us up to play and move together as a unit.”
The win advanced Crested Butte onto the next round of the district tournament where they met La Veta on Tuesday, October 26. La Veta came into the game the number two-ranked team in the state, losing a mere six sets all season long enroute to an 18-0 match record.
The Lady Titans had their hands full and put up a tough fight, but La Veta proved too overwhelming, taking the Lady Titans down in three sets and closing the door on Crested Butte’s season.
