High school volleyball is underway in the Centennial State.
A slew of underclassmen led Barbara Chappells spikers at the Montezuma-Cortez High School Gym Thursday night. The Lady Panthers played host to the Pagosa Springs Pirates.
The visiting Pirates plunged to a 22-17 lead in the third set that forced the Lady Panthers to the edge of the plank. Chappell called a timeout. Lets just says M-CHS took coachs words to heart.
She (Chappell) said were a family, and that we have to stick together and play as hard as we can, even if we lose, sophomore middle blocker Nickelle Oliver said.
The Lady Panthers rallied to score nine of the next 11 points to win the set, 26-24, taking a 2-1 lead in the match. The third set was capped off after an emphatic assisted block by senior outside hitter Amanda Chappell and senior setter Cheyenne Mortensen that sent the home crowd into a frenzy.
Theres things that you do and key words that you say to get them working, Barb Chappell said. They knew they could do better.
M-CHS experienced some early season jitters in the first three sets that were extremely hard fought. In the fourth set, the Lady Panthers put it together and won the match, 3-1 (27-25, 23-25, 26-24, 25-11).
Sophomore outside hitter Danielle Waltman got the first kill of the match to give M-CHS (1-0) a 2-1 first set lead. The Lady Panthers increased their margin to 9-4, but the Lady Pirates (0-1) seized momentum with an 11-3 run to go up 15-12.
M-CHS responded with back-to-back kills from junior setter Abby Engel and Amanda Chappell to get back within one.
Pagosa Springs held its lead until an assisted block by Oliver and junior middle blocker Devon Biery to tie it at 20.
Each team traded the next four points until Pagosa Springs hit one out of bounds to give M-CHS a 25-24 lead and the serve. Lady Pirates coach Sue ODonnell called timeout. It worked, as Kelsey Sellers knocked the ball just over the net to tie it at 25.
However, Katie Ambrechts serve didnt make it over the net and the Lady Panthers had match point again at 26-25. On the next serve, another mistake by the road team cost them a point and the set, giving M-CHS a 1-0 lead.
In set two, Pagosa Springs took advantage of the north side of the court and quickly claimed a 7-2 lead. Barb Chappell called her first timeout to regroup. But the Pirates kept the pressure on and extended their lead to 16-7.
The Lady Panthers would get back within four behind strong play from Amanda Chappell, Biery and Black to close the gap to 18-14. ODonnell called her first timeout of the set. Out of the timeout, consecutive Lady Panthers errors and an Ambrecht kill gave the Pirates a 21-14 lead.
M-CHS came back with four straight highlighted by kills from Amanda Chappell and Waltman to make it 21-18.
Both squads traded the next three points before Waltman hit an ace to make it 24-22. A Pirates error put the Lady Panthers within one, but then Waltmans serving error gave Pagosa Springs the set by two to even things 1-1 at the break.
Pagosa Springs led early in set three. M-CHS grabbed its first lead at 11-10 off Amanda Chappells kill. The teams continued to battle back-and-forth. With the Pirates up 16-14, a furious rally ensued with dashing dives on each side to keep the possession alive. Pagosa Springs eventually earned the point to go up 17-14. But after the visitors gave up their lead to lose the third set, things fell apart in the fourth.
The Lady Panthers started the final set fast and sprinted to a 10-4 lead that saw two kills from Oliver in the spurt. The lead grew to 12-5 before ODonnell called timeout, as it appeared the Pirates were emotionally snake bitten from squandering the last set.
Losing, when youre so far ahead, is really hard to come back from, ODonnell said. Emotionally, its hard to come back from because its a game of momentum. We let it hang over our heads. It was hard.
M-CHS continued to attack building a 13-point lead at 22-9, while also capitalizing off the Pirates mental mistakes.
Amanda Chappell and Black got kills and a serving error by Pagosa Springs libero Angie Gallegos gave M-CHS the match.
That last game should have been our first few games, Barb Chappell said. Its a lot of first game jitters. Its a lot of kids just deciding to step up and lead the team. My outside hitters struggled a little bit and they cant do that. Theyre my go-to-girls. Thats part of the growing of them being young. That final game they figured it out. They just need to start there. But its a win and thats what ultimately matters.
Amanda Chappell had nine kills, freshman libero Naomi Pennecoose recorded 13 digs, Mortensen totaled 19 assists and Oliver tallied 11 blocks.
I felt like we came out with a lot of intensity and we got ourselves back up. We did a good job of just keeping it together, Oliver said. It (the win) boosted our confidence a lot, I think.
The Lady Panthers will practice twice over the Labor Day holiday break and then head to Blanding, Utah, to take on the San Juan Lady Broncos on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
NOTES: M-CHS senior starting outside hitter Sydney Bayles did not play due to a back injury.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at bobbya@cortezjournal.com.