Lady Cowboys gain lasting experience at state tournament

MEEKER I The Meeker High School varsity volleyball team came away from the 2013 Colorado State Volleyball Championships tournament with one win, one loss and a lasting experience.
Coach Christy Atwood said, “What an end to a great season. The theme of each and every piece of inspiration was belief. Belief in your team, belief in yourself, belief in our goal and finally belief in our journey and right to be at the tournament.”
The Cowgirls had an outstanding journey along the way, leading them over the mountain and up against the best teams in the state.
Their first match was a rematch of the regional championship game, and Atwood said, “I was thankful we had the first match of the state tourney against a team we had already played and beat.” Meeker played very well and finished off the team for the second time in as many weeks.

Atwood said, “We had our game plan intact and were able to execute. There is no getting around nerves of playing in that atmosphere. I am so so proud of my kids for taking those words and truly believing and playing in that moment.”
Meeker had a well-rounded performance with their offense getting in a flow and their defense working together to shut down one of the top hitters in the state.
Meeker’s next opponent was the No. 1-seeded — and rightfully so, it turned out — Resurrection Christian. They were a team of power hitters and tremendous confidence.
Atwood said, “This match started a little rocky.” Resurrection began the match with two big kills and Meeker had to “find a way to fight back and figure out a way for us to make the adjustments to get stops.”
“Those adjustments finally came in the third set of the match,” she said.
The Cowgirls had a lead before two unforced errors at the end of the match and fell 25-27 in a very competitive set.
Coach Atwood was very proud of the team and said, “When you play at a state tournament your hope is your team is peaking at the right time. We were. You hope you are able to withstand the pressure the atmosphere itself puts on a team. We did.
“Finally, you hope that you bring the best play to the best teams,” she said. “We did.
“How can a coach, parent, fan, community not be proud of that accomplishment! I don’t have enough words to say how proud I am of these girls. It has taken eight years to get back to this spot with my philosophy of volleyball and expectations,” Atwood said.
To put an exclamation mark on a their senior season, Aly Ridings and Piper Haney will get to play one more week of volleyball as they were selected to play in the Colorado Coaches of Girls Sports All State Games. Atwood will also get to coach the girls as she was selected to represent the West Slope League as a coach.