MEEKER I After a three year absence from the regional volleyball tournament, the Meeker volleyball team qualified for post-season play as district champions but did not advance to the state tournament. Meeker finished third behind the champion team from Mancos and runner-up Telluride team.
“Our league was really tight this year, it could have gone any way and I’m glad we won the district,” head coach Christy Atwood said. “We were missing a team component the past two years but we found it before the district tournament and were able to do team things at the end. As a coach I’m very proud of them.”
There was a lot of excitement before Meeker played Telluride in the first round of the four-team pool play but not enough to carry the lady Cowboys to a win. Meeker lost the match in three games.
“Against Telluride, we didn’t play our best match,” Atwood said. “We couldn’t put a consistent offense together.”
Meeker lost the first game 21-25, then 15-25 and lost the final game 19-25.
“The loss put a little bit of pressure on us for the next two matches,” Atwood said.
Meeker’s next match would be against Rangely, the fourth match of the season between the two county rivals.
“When you play (the same team) more than twice, it feels like something is washed out,” Atwood said. “We beat them in five the week before and executed very well. Offensively were able to capitalize on little mistakes and put the ball in places to put it away.”
The first game between the two Rio Blanco County teams was played close, with Meeker winning the first game 25-22. Meeker jumped ahead and controlled the second game to win 25-19 and then won the match by winning the third game.
“We had to get a win against Mancos to advance,” Atwood said. “We didn’t play horribly but we didn’t have a great offense either. We did a good job of containing Aimee Johnson, who is a great player, but we couldn’t put the ball away at times we needed to.”
Meeker played Mancos close in the first game but lost 22-25. Mancos won the final two games 18-25 and 14-25 and will advance to the state tournament as the regional champ.
The regional tournament was the final match for four Meeker High School seniors.
“We are going to miss our seniors,” Atwood said of Kathryn Doll, Katie Morgan, Aubrey Walsh and Adrienne Wix. “But we are only going to continue to get better.”
