Meeker tops Rangely in county v-ball duel

MEEKER — High school rivalries! Is there anything more fun or motivating for anyone who play a sport?
I would like to think that the rivalry between the Cowgirls and the Panthers gives the image of just plain good competition. In the three short years I have been the coach of the Cowgirls there hasn’t been a match between Meeker and Rangely that didn’t provide an incredible show. This year’s match was no different.
Our main focus was on our defense knowing we would have to stop the consistently powerful front line of the Panthers. With force our blockers combined for 10 stuff blocks.
Kelsey Kindall had her best match of the season with an outstanding defensive effort adding three solo blocks and three kills in the team’s win. We have an incredible depth to our team that allows everyone to contribute her individual effort to our team win! Scores for the match were 27-25, 25-22, 27-25.
The team stats: Kelcy Brown 16 points and nine assists; Marki Cook five kills and 12 assists; Meg Nieslanik five kills and three assisted blocks; Sydney Cook eight digs, one solo block and one ace; Megan Ridings perfect serve receive and three digs; Gabbie Goettel 11 points and seven digs; Stacy Fitzgibbons three kills and three solo blocks and Janae Kindall 13 kills and three aces. Jimmy Lynn has a good team that will be ready to compete at the highest level in the next couple weeks.
We hope to have the best teams from the Western Slope coming from Rio Blanco County.
The trip to Vail Mountain wasn’t near as successful as the trip to Rangely. After losing the first game to the Rangers 14-25 we had a long uphill battle.
We were able to scrap our way to win games two and four and rally from a six-point deficit to eventually lose the fifth and deciding game 12-15. Losses are hard to choke down at any time in the season. We had thought we were ready to take the next step closer to our undefeated league season and when you lose focus for a short time those dreams can slip right through your hands. The girls fought through the bad spots and pushed this one to five games. We just couldn’t get the momentum to shift our direction.
One of my favorite quotes from Mia Hamm is: “Failure happens all the time. What makes you better is how you react to it.” We’ll be just fine!
The homecoming matches on Friday, Oct. 17, against Hayden will start at 4 p.m. with the C-team. Come join us for our last home match “The Gold Rush!”
Wear gold, get a rally towel and be entered into a drawing for a prize at halftime during the football game.