Panthers split homecoming games with West Grand

RANGELY I The Rangely High School volleyball team had a very successful homecoming weekend, beating a solid West Grand team in three games. The victory comes just in time to build momentum going into a very busy week.
The lady Panthers will travel to Oak Creek today for a league game, then host the always tough Paonia Eagles on Friday night before traveling to Hayden for another league matchup.
The three matches will be crucial for the Panthers, and head coach Jimmie Mergelman said, “If we play like I know we are capable of, we will have a good weekend.”
Wins over Hayden and Soroco could certainly make for a very interesting post season as the teams are now well into league play, when every match affects their seeding for the district tournament.
Rangely hopes to have matches similar to their homecoming match, where they came out strong, winning game one 25-19.
The team demonstrated its heart in coming back from being down 13-20 in game two with the serving of Courtney Bell, who brought them all the way back to 20-20. The game was a nail biter with the Panthers finally finishing in the lead 30-28.
In the third game, Rangely showed the ability to finish, winning the game and match 25-20.
Coach Mergelman was very pleased with the team, saying, “We played well and were able to finish games.”