The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We have talent and we are playing together more as a team…”
By Than Acuff
The Crested Butte Titans volleyball team headed out for an overnight road trip to take on two league opponents and came back empty handed losing both matches. But it wasn’t all for naught as the team took a step forward in a crucial aspect of their game setting them up for success in the coming weeks.
“Our goal this weekend was to celebrate the good things when they happen and to keep our composure as a team when things aren’t going well,” says coach Marla Covey. “We succeeded in that goal.”
The road trip started with the Sanford Mustangs on Friday, September 8, a notoriously strong 2A program with a long history of league domination. The Titans came out strong in the first set building a lead before Sanford’s consistency wore the Titans down as the Mustangs won the first game 25–23. The Titans dropped the next two games as well to fall to the Mustangs, but Covey was happy with the team’s cohesion throughout the entire match.
“We have talent and we are playing together more as a team and I think we shocked them a little bit in that first game, but we couldn’t get our mojo back in the second and third games,” says Covey.
The team culture continued to improve during the overnighter and the Titans returned to the court to face the Trinidad Miners on Saturday, September 9. Crested Butte had another strong showing in the first game of the match but fell short losing 25–21. Trinidad’s consistency and defense continued to thwart the Titans and the Titans lost the next two games to drop the match.
“We were hitting well, they just kept picking it up and sending it back over,” says Covey. “We just got ourselves in too many holes in that match.”
While dropping two matches on the road can wear on a team, Covey felt good about the two-game road trip.
“The whole weekend was positive,” says Covey. “The first step is playing as a team, and getting over that hurdle was a big one and now we can start working on other things.”
The Titans have a tough non-league match against Gunnison this week and a week off before they play three tough matches in four days, all on the road, starting on September 19.
“We’re going to use the week to switch some positions around and see if we can spark something,” says Covey. “We still need work on mental toughness and how to stay in a match when things aren’t going well.”
