Meeker came out strong and never looked back as they won the match in three straight games 25-10, 25-10 and 25-13. The win was a balanced team effort as Megan Parker had five kills, Syndey Hughes and Reagan Pearce each had four and Paige Jones added two. The kills were assisted by sophomore setter Maggie Phelan and her classmate LoriAnn Klinglesmith led the team in digs with 11.
The team traveled to Paonia Friday night and showed, particularly late in the match, that they have the ability to play with teams at the top level. They fell in the first game 23-25, 13-25 in game two, but showed outstanding heart as they fought back from 12-21 to make the game extremely close before losing 23-25 to the Eagles.
First year head coach Janae Stansworth said, “It was a good weekend to meet new and faster-paced teams. The girls had to dig in and work for every point.”
She added in reference to the Paonia game, “It could be a different game next time, we know what to expect, we can work on our blocking and really focus on our defense.”
The team looked to have gained confidence from their solid play late in the match and came out strong against West Grand on Saturday. The first game proved the match would be competitive as the Mustangs won 30-28. Meeker showed composure and played as an entire team to come back and win game two 25-21.
“I think we played better as a team on Saturday. Our communication was better,” Stansworth said.
Paige Jones led the team in kills with a great slide attack, for 11 total, followed by Reagan Pearce with 10, Megan Parker added nine and Sydney Hughes added eight giving the senior leaders 38 total kills. Maggie Phelan had an outstanding game finishing with more then 40 assists and had no serving errors.
The team defense was outstanding as Brittney Smith was back from an ankle injury in the Libero position and led the team in digs. Megan Parker and Paige Jones each had two solo blocks. Meeker took control of game three beating the Mustangs 25-14, but the girls from Kremmling did not leave without a fight.
They made the fourth game an exciting one and Meeker won 29-27. The Meeker team is preparing for Rangely Friday night, and look to be playing solid team volleyball as the regular season is under way.
