MEEKER I Rangely and Vail Christian played Meeker in last Saturday’s homecoming triangular and split the matches, defeating Rangely but losing to Vail Christian.
Meeker will travel to Paonia Friday and host Vail Mountain Saturday.
Against the lady Panthers, Meeker lost the first two games, forcing the lady Cowboys to win the final three games to win the match, which is just what the lady Cowboys did.
“We struggled to get a good start against Rangely,” head coach Christy Atwood said of the 13-25 and 23-25 losses. “We lost the second game on a couple of errors at the end but we were gaining momentum. By the third game, we were finally ready to play as a team, which isn’t a great strategy.
Meeker came back to beat the Panthers in the final three games 29-27, 28-26 and 15-11.
“We proved a lot to ourselves, what we were willing to do to battle back,” Atwood said. “We never felt like we were going to lose, we just kept plugging away. We weren’t tentative, we stayed on the attack and won because of the sheer will of the team. It was a great team win. We had different role players and all 12 varsity girls contributed in some way.”
Meeker had a break before playing Vail Christian but lost the match after four games.
“They have a good team but we didn’t play as well as we did against Rangely,” Atwood said of the match against Vail Christian. “The match with Rangely was emotional and mentally and physically long.”
Meeker lost the first match 11-25 then won the second 25-17 before losing the final two 23-15 and 11-25.
“Their hitters took advantage of opportunities and we didn’t,” Atwood said of Vail Christian. “We play them again in two weeks and feel confident we’ll play them better.”
Atwood is looking forward to playing this weekend.
“It’s always a battle in Paonia, they have such a great home court advantage,” Atwood said. “We just have to work hard and execute our game plan and Vail Mountain always has a strong team. We can expect battles both nights.”
