The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“Our goal was to show our school and community how good CB volleyball can play”
[ by Than Acuff ]The Crested Butte Titans volleyball team made the most of their Homecoming match cruising to a straight set win over Mountain Valley on Thursday, September 17. Unfortunately, they couldn’t carry the momentum into their match against 3A stalwart Buena Vista on Saturday, September 19 but remain in the positive with a 7-4 record thus far in the season.
The coaches and the team had an idea of what to expect from Mountain Valley, so they set a goal in place for the fans as well as for the upcoming match against Buena Vista.
“The focus was to build momentum for Buena Vista and have some fun cranking some balls,” says captain Mia O’Neil.
And the Titans did just that stepping on the front foot from the start and keeping it pinned to take down Mountain Valley in straight sets 25-14, 25-15, 25-18. O’Neil and Grace Williams combined for 30 kills with O’Neil adding in six aces, Jo Miller tallied 18 assists while Lanea Clifton had 10 assists in the win. Haley Erickson returned to the fold from injury to tally 17 serve receptions and eight digs as the libero.
“Our goal was to show our school and community how good CB volleyball can play,” says coach Heidi O’Neil. “We had a huge crowd, and we gave them a lot to cheer about with very hard-hit kills and serving.”
“It was awesome to show our fans what the team has become with our incredible new coaching staff and build excitement for volleyball in the future,” adds Mia.
The Titans returned to their home court to host the Buena Vista demons on Saturday, September 19 who came in with a record of 6-3 and the Titans took the challenge on headfirst in the opening set of the match. Perhaps fueled by their effort against Mountain Valley, Crested Butte jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the opening set with Mia finding success with big hits and Haley Roberts and Lilian Voegeli adding in the occasional dink.
As the set wore on, Buena Vista adjustments shut off Mia’s effort at the net and their consistency on defense started to build momentum. The Demons clawed back into the set to take their first lead but back-to-back hits from Williams had the Titans in front 16-15.
The teams spent the remainder of the set trading points and while plays at the net from Roberts helped hold off two set points down the stretch, Buena Vista eventually took the first set 27-25.
“Buena Vista put up a really strong block and shifted their defense to be centered around our outside hitters which definitely took away our offensive momentum,” says Mia.
The second set went much like how the first set ended with both teams trading off points and neither able to build any sizable lead. Crested Butte continued to match the Demons’ efforts but a couple breakdowns by the Titans allowed the Demons to seize the opportunity down the stretch and win the second set 25-20.
Fatigue started to set in for the Titans in the third set as the Demons built a lead early and remained consistent both on defense and offense to win the third set 25-16 and take the match. Mia finished with 18 kills and Williams tacked on 10 kills plus 11 digs, two of which kept rallies alive for the Titans to win. Erickson continued to find her rhythm as the libero with 15 digs, Miller and Clifton combined for 29 assists and Roberts had two blocks and 11 digs.
“It was a winnable match,” says Mia. “I think our team needs to show more desire to win, even when we’re tired. It’s a mental shift we’ve been working on all season.”
The Titans hit the road this week with a match on Thursday, September 24 in Monte Vista and then three matches on Saturday, September 26 against Sierra Grande, Ouray and Creede all at Sierra Grande high school. The Titans’ next home match will be on Friday, October 2.
