RANGELY | The district tournament began with a match against Paonia. The Panther’s win the week before proved advantageous going into the match as Rangely took control early, winning the first two games 25-19 and 26-24. Paonia fought back to win game three and four 25-18 and 25-23. This set the Lady Panthers up for an intense game five and Rangely came together with a solid team effort to win 15-13.
Their next match was against Hayden. The Panthers came out a little slow, losing game one 14-25 before rallying back to win the next three games 25-13, 25-17 and a final barn burner of 27-25.
Coach Rohn said, “These girls continue to grow. We played the first two matches against Paonia and Hayden according to the game plan that was set.” The team clearly had a goal in mind and stuck to it, knowing they had a great chance at advancing regardless of their last match. The Panthers lost to Meeker in a hard fought five-game match but came out of the district with the number two seed.
“We have yet to put together a complete match but we are very close. We have earned this opportunity to advance and we will be ready for regionals,” Rohn stated. He added a very sincere congratulations to Meeker on their success.
The team will have this week to prepare and then head to regionals to continue their journey. Rangley will play Mancos at 9 a.m. Saturday, followed by Meeker at 1 p.m. and Telluride immediately after that match.
Rohn said he looks forward to “another day of aggressive volleyball matches.” No doubt Panther fans will be out in force to support their volleyball team that appears to be playing their best volleyball at the very best time.