MEEKER | It was a tough 0-2 weekend for the Cowboy varsity volleyball team but there were some bright spots with the JV and C teams having a great weekend and winning their games. Both teams won against very good Delta and North Fork teams. The JV and C Team have a match at home against Grand Junction on Friday.
“The varsity had a rough weekend but we learned a lot about ourselves as a team and things we need to be better at,” commented head coach Greg Cravens.
“We had a slow start against Delta and we have agreed we are not going to talk about it again,” said Cravens. “The final two sets saw us do some good things against a very good 3A team.”
In the third set the Cowboys were ahead at 23-21 but Delta stood up and put the match away. Statistically Meeker didn’t have a good match against such a good team and they needed to play their best to have a chance. Delta went on to beat the top team in class 3A, Centauri, this weekend.
Reese Clatterbaugh contributed five kills, Ainsley Selle four, and both Rylee Sullivan and Natalie Kracht had two. In the back row, Taylor Garcia continued to work hard with 23 digs.
The girls then turned their attention to Limon week and their Friday night matchup against a team also in the top 10.
“Friday night was an incredible match and the energy in the gym was incredible,” commented Cravens. “I love coaching these types of matches.”
The match lasted more than two hours and 45 minutes, and was one of the longest matches the Cowboys have played.
The scores reflect that both teams were putting it all out there, as all but one set was only a two point difference. In the end the Cowboys fell in the fifth set; scores were 24-26, 26-24, 25-27, 25-20 and 13-15.
“It was good watching the girls handle all the pressure the match put on them,” said Cravens. Kracht turned her ankle, the Cowboys needed to find other people to help score points and several of them stepped up including Jada May, Shyan Kurth and in the back row Braydin Rayly.
“I’m very pleased how well rounded our team is this year,” commented Cravens.
“Looking at the stats of this match is very hard,” pointed out Cravens. “We had more points, kills, blocks, and better serving percentage. We played well, we just didn’t come away with the win.”
Clatterbaugh was once again top at the net with 13 kills and two blocks, Selle had 10 kills and four blocks, Ellie Hossack nine and Sullivan seven. Clatterbaugh also led with three aces serving.
Garcia, who is top defender in the state for class 2A had 57 digs for a total of 211 for the year so far.
The Cowboys have another challenging weekend with a trip to the Denver Christian tournament. They will play Holyoke at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, and the tournament features both Sedgwick County and Strasburg, both in the top four of 2A.
“It will be a fun weekend of tough volleyball,” wrapped-up Cravens.
