Volleyball takes down South Park in straight sets at home

“We realized we could play at a faster level”

By Than Acuff

With a week of workouts under their belt, the Crested Butte Titans volleyball team corralled the South Park Burros in straight sets on Friday, September 5 to get back on the winning track.

The Titans got a big test a week ago facing three tough opponents and falling in all three matches. Yet, despite the outcomes on paper, the day had the Titans focused as they went into practices the next week to prepare for the South Park match.

“Practices over the week had a very energetic but determined feel,” says junior captain Mia O’Neil.

“The biggest change was attitude,” adds coach Sheri Covey. “They were having fun but still working hard. Something connected and they were really together.”

That connectivity and hard work paid off in the opening game of their match against the Burros as the Titans came out on fire to open the first game with big hits and big blocks. South Park made some adjustments to climb back in but once the Titans adjusted, they went on to take the first game 25-16.

“It takes us a while to switch when our opponent’s offense changes,” says Covey.

With adjustments in place and the Titans still on the front foot, they rolled in the second game to a 25-12 win. Covey used the 2-0 advantage in games to get additional players on the floor and Crested Butte was back in a tight battle with South Park. Meanwhile, with their backs against the wall facing a straight set match loss, the Burros battled the Titans until the bitter end with the game tied 23-23. Neither squad could seal it until an O’Neil service run helped lead Crested Butte to a 28-26 victory and sealing the match win.

“I was really pleased we didn’t fold,” says Covey. “We just kept fighting back. The weekend before, despite the losses, made us more confident. We realized we could play at a faster level.”

“We finally chose to work hard for each other as a team and communicate with each other more to eliminate the little errors,” adds O’Neil. “It was amazing to finally execute what we have been working so hard on throughout the season.”

Covey touts the effort of Hailey Huresky throughout the match and saw additional insights into her team that she hopes to implement in the coming week.

“Huresky moved the ball around better than I’ve ever seen, she literally picked them apart,” says Covey. “Carly Ezell is giving us solid hitting on the left and Haley Roberts is coming on as a blocker on the right. With Huresky, Maryn Pritchett and Haley blocking, that’s a big help. It really takes a team’s big hitters out of the game.”

The Titans head to Creede on Friday, September 12 and then host Ridgway on Friday, September 19 for Homecoming before jumping into league play.

“I’m really excited to use the next week to smooth things out and reinforce some of the changes we’d like to see,” says Covey. “The toughest part of the season is after Homecoming. This is a tough, tough league.”