Lady Panther volleyball team has tough weekend

RANGELY I The Rangely volleyball team had a tough weekend, but certainly saw glimmers of the team they are striving to be. The girls hope to change things around this week for their homecoming matchup against West Grand Saturday.
The Mustangs from Kremmling will be a great test for the Lady Panthers, and a match that could turn out to be very important as the league unfolds. Rangely began the weekend against Nucla and came out strong, winning the first two games 25-23, and 25-21.
Head coach Jimmie Merglemen said her team “just couldn’t finish” the remainder of the match. Rangely lost game three 18-25 and fell 14-25 in game four. The momentum was on the wrong side of the net for the final game, and the Panthers lost 11-15.
Carrie Goddard, Katye Allred, Antoinette Dorris and Lindzey Thacker all served well, having 19, 18, 18 and 17 serves, respectively. Chelsea Ficken led the team in kills with four and Aimee Hogan had 14 assists off 78 handled balls for the Panthers.
Saturday would find the Panthers against a solid Vail Christian team, and the Panthers were just getting warmed up as they were halfway through their third game.
The young Rangely team struggled early in the match, falling behind in game one 18-25, and still cold in game two 15-25. The team really showed the type of team they can be as they came alive late in game three, pushing the game to 24-26 before falling.
It was a good sign for a young team to have the heart to keep fighting, and fight they will. They played Meeker on Wednesday night and hope to rally for homecoming with games beginning at 2:30, 3:30, and 4:30 p.m. on Friday.