Rangely spikes Meeker in four

RANGELY I It was a big week for the Lady Panthers.
Their head coach, Jimmie Mergleman, delivered a baby boy the morning of Oct 13. Then there was the always-intense matchup against county rival Meeker.
In between, there was a tough loss to Vail Christian, the league’s only unbeaten team. Rangely’s volleyball team lost its home match to Vail Christian the night of Oct. 13.
“I don’t think we played up to our potential,” said assistant coach Dennis Rohn, who filled in for Mergleman. “But I was very proud of the girls. Even though we had troubles passing and serving, and hitting errors, we still fought to the end.”
The Lady Panthers played better Friday, when they traveled to Meeker, which, as always, was accompanied by a raucous atmosphere.
“This game had a lot of hype to it,” Rohn said. “This is the one game that Rangely always looks forward to.”
The Lady Panthers won the first two sets against the host Lady Cowboys, lost the third set, and then won the fourth, to claim the match.
After losing to Vail Christian — its second loss of the season — Rangely was fired up to play Meeker.
“The girls practiced hard in preparation for the match,” Rohn said.
In the first two sets against Meeker, Rangely won, 25-16 and 25-22. The Lady Panthers lost the third set, 22-25, but then prevailed in the fourth and final set, 25-20.
“The front line, in all rotations, played well, even though we had some errors,” Rohn said. “The defensive side of the game was also played well, even though we had some spurts of bad passing.”
With the regular season winding down — the Lady Panthers host West Grand in the finale Friday — Rohn said the team is peaking at the right time. District play is the weekend of Halloween, when Rangely will return to Meeker, which will host the tournament.
“These girls have so much potential, it is amazing,” the Rangely assistant coach said of the Lady Panthers. “We definitely are coming together as a team. We still have segments of the game to work on, but I was very pleased with the effort the girls gave. They never quit, and that is important.”