Rangely girls keep league record perfect

RANGELY I The Lady Panthers don’t rattle easily.
“We’ve been down a couple three or four times and found a way to come back,” said Rangely volleyball coach Jimmie Mergelman.
That’s what experience can do for you.
The senior-dominated Lady Panthers improved to 11-1 on the season and 5-0 in the Western Slope League with home victories last week over Hayden on Sept. 28 and Soroco last Saturday.
Against Hayden, it took five games for the Lady Panthers to win. They won games one, three and five by the scores of 25-19, 25-12 and 15-10. They lost games two and four: 25-17 and 25-16.
“I thought overall we played OK,” Mergelman said. “But, definitely, it wasn’t one of our best. But it wasn’t our worst, either.”
The Lady Panthers — who have 14 seniors on the roster — were at their best on Saturday against Soroco. Rangely won in three games: 25-11, 25-19 and 25-23.
“I was pleased,” Mergelman said. “I thought we played well.”
This week, the Lady Panthers play Friday at Hayden in a league match. Last week’s match against Hayden was a non-league contest.
“With De Beque not having a team — they didn’t have enough girls — we just picked up an extra game (against Hayden),” Mergelman said of last week’s match.
On Saturday, the Lady Panthers will play at home against Plateau Valley, a team they beat earlier in the season in three games.
Next week’s matches loom large as the Lady Panthers host county rival Meeker on Oct. 15 for homecoming. Then they will host Paonia on Oct. 16.
“Hopefully our experience will continue to do good things for us,” Mergelman said. “We have a lot of experience on the floor. With that, we should be able to do good things.”