Cowgirls win pair on the road

MEEKER — The Cowgirls traveled to West Grand and Hayden this past weekend, and the team played two of the smartest games of its season.
The team has been working hard on finishing a game with intensity and consistency. We were able to work through what I like to call “mental vacations” and rally back into the match. I would like to say that there was one individual that dominated for each of the wins, but these were truly team wins.
Janae Kindall and Sydney Cook in were outstanding in West Grand. They combined for 30 kills, two aces and 28 digs.
Gabbie Goettel has stepped into our “pressure serving” role with confidence to contribute 18 points and three aces.
Marki Cook was rock solid in all aspects of her game. She had eight kills, 23 assists, one ace and 10 digs.
Meg Nieslanik, Kelsey Kendall and Stacy Fitzgibbons protected our court with seven assisted blocks while Megan Ridings had 15 digs.
Kelcy Brown kept our hitters on attack with her setting and defense shelling out 18 assists and eight digs. Scores for the match were: 26-24, 25-21, 17-25, 25-21 giving us a 6-5 record overall and 4-0 in the league.
Dictating direction of our opposing hitters was a focus for team against Hayden.
Stacy Fitzgibbons was outstanding in reading then stopping the Tigers. She had the best defensive game of our season with six solo and three assisted blocks.
Taking care of business before the ball crosses the net sure makes it easier on our defense. Meg Nielsanik’s crafty hitting decisions came at key times in the match and helped to boost the momentum or change it in our favor.
As I mentioned with the West Grand match, we are learning to play a smart complete game. This allows for the team to excel when they are down or having a lapse in momentum. We came from behind to win game four of this match. Scores: 25-16, 25-23, 23-25, 25-20.
We will have another tough weekend with Paonia at home on Friday, Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. and in North Park on Saturday, Oct. 4.
Paonia is currently 11-1 and undefeated in the league, and we can’t overlook a very scrappy North Park team Saturday in Walden.
Don’t forget Friday, Oct. 3 is the Cowboy “White Out.” The first 100 fans to come to the volleyball game wearing white will get a rally towel. Taking the towel to the football game will get you registered to win an iPod in a drawing held at halftime.