The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Big match this Thursday at home
With seven seniors on the squad and a mental shift to play above lesser opponents, the Titans volleyball team opened the regular season in stride.
Their defense is working hard to keep the ball in play and service rallies by any number of starters have given the Titans a boost when the team has needed it most.
The first weekend of league play was the initial test of the Titans squad and they passed with flying colors, cruising to easy wins over Cripple Creek and South Park.
The teams’ next challenge came on Friday, September 13 when they headed to the San Luis Valley to face the Center Vikings. Historically, the Vikings have provided a mental challenge for the Titans and while they may not be technically as strong as the Titans, they do bring an intensity that can rattle the Titans.
Crested Butte opened the match edging out a 25-22 win in the first set but Center’s resolve carried them to a 25-21 win to tie the match up at one game apiece.
While in past years the Titans may have crumbled under the Vikings’ push, this year is different and the Titans proved who the stronger team was on the court over the course of the next two sets.
The Titans won the third set 25-18 and then drove the final nail in the coffin, cruising to a 25-11 win in the fourth set to take the match.
After pulling off the win, the hope was that the Titans could carry the momentum into their match the following day against the 12th-ranked Sargent Farmers. Furthermore, the Titans would be playing on their home court in mighty Mt. Olympus and looked to take a win in their home opener.
Unfortunately, they ran into a force to be reckoned with in the Farmers. Admittedly, the Titans were not at their best in the opening set, falling rather quickly 25-10. They regrouped some of their mojo from the day before to give the Farmers a challenge but fell in the next two sets 25-21 and 25-18.
“Sargent is a tall, strong team and after we got over our first home game jitters, we battled hard most points,” says coach Marla Covey.
The Titans are now 6-3 overall, 3-1 in league play and have a big league showdown kicking off the homecoming weekend as they host the Sanford Indians on Thursday, September 19. The JV team takes the court at 4 p.m. with the varsity match set to start at 5 p.m.
They have a break between home games on Friday and then return to mighty Mt. Olympus on Saturday to host Cripple Creek at 11 a.m.
