One set to stay alive.
Thats what it came down to last Saturday afternoon at Montezuma-Cortez High School.
With a spot at 4A Districts on the line between M-CHS and Montrose, first one to 15 and to win by two was the objective.
However, things didnt appear early on that the Lady Panthers and Indians would be battling in a fifth set.
M-CHS won the first two sets over Montrose and had beat Grand Junction Central 3-0 (25-14, 26-24, 25-15) the night before.
Montrose had other ideas, winning sets three and four to tie the match and force a deciding set.
The Indians had all the momentum and quickly jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the final frame. With the Lady Panthers on their ninth life, they fought, scraped and clawed back with seven in a row to take a 9-5 lead. M-CHS forced Montrose into costly mistakes, and Amanda Chappell and Danielle Waltman had a kill and serving ace during the run. But the Indians charged back with a 6-2 run to tie it at 11. Shea Neill recorded a serving ace after a timeout to pump up the visitors, and Leah Glasbrenner and Hunter Schaeffer each spiked kills.
Lady Panthers coach Barbara Chappell called timeout to setup a play for her struggling senior, Sydney Bayles. The outside hitter answered the call with an emphatic kill executed by Abby Engel, playing in place of absent setter Cheyenne Mortensen. The point gave M-CHS the lead for good. Devon Biery earned her fourth kill to give the Lady Panthers a 13-11 lead, and two Montrose errors gave M-CHS the win, 3-2 (25-15, 26-24, 18-25, 21-25, 15-12).
A total barn burner, but they did it. They pulled it out. Im telling you, its awesome, Barb Chappell said with tears in her eyes. Im so proud of them.
For M-CHS (9-10, 5-5 5A/4A Southwestern League) it was its third win in a row, and will now play Sand Creek Saturday morning at 8 a.m. in the 4A District-7 tournament at Palisade High School. The Lady Panthers are the two-seed and Sand Creek (12-7, 5-4 4A Colorado Springs Metro League) is seeded seventh. Host Palisade is No. 1.
We ended the season 5-5. I couldnt ask for better. They are a good team, Barb Chappell said. Everybody walked into the season not knowing what was going to happen. These girls, theres not one person that makes the difference. Its all of them, and thats what makes the difference in a good team and a great team. I feel like they pulled together.
The win gave M-CHS a season split with Montrose (9-10, 4-6 5A/4A SL).
Im just really proud of all of our girls. They really stepped up, senior Amanda Chappell said. Weve been proving so much throughout this season. Im really proud of Abby, because Cheyenne left, and she took her spot and did awesome.
In the first set, it was all Lady Panthers. Juniors Waltman and Engel sparked the offense with big plays, and Amanda Chappell did the rest on the way to a 10-point win.
Set two was a barn burner like the fifth frame. Neither team led by more than four points. With things tied at 14, Montrose would take the lead on two M-CHS errors. Amanda Chappell responded with back-to-back kills to tie the score up at 16. Both squads matched each other the next eight points to make it 24 all. It would be Montrose that would score the two deciding points for the Lady Panthers. The Indians were caught in the net twice to give M-CHS the pivotal set and 2-0 match lead at the break.
Set three saw the Lady Panthers play confident and they eventually possessed a 15-9 lead. But M-CHS was a little too complacent with its lead. Montrose gained back its confidence to the tune of 11 consecutive points, and seized control at 20-15. The Lady Panthers scored the next two points, but that was as close as they would threaten.
The fourth set saw Montrose control throughout. M-CHS did spring back from an early 8-point deficit to climb within one at 21-20. More mistakes and a Schaeffer kill tied the match 2-2, setting up the epic fifth set that saw the Lady Panthers come out on top.
Engel had a game high 24 assists at setter and Naomi Pennecoose filled in for Engel at libero with a game high 23 digs. Sophomore Nickelle Oliver recorded a game high 13 blocks. Waltman chipped in nine serving aces and 11 digs.
It takes a lot of pressure off of us, said Amanda Chappell about the play of the underclassmen positively affecting the seniors. We can really play our best. We can swing hard, instead of playing scared. Whenever they pick up the slack, its really awesome.
Amanda Chappell and Bayles both spiked seven kills, and each tallied eight and 11 digs.
M-CHS can advance to regionals if it finishes in the top-two at districts.
Of course Id like to make it to state and win, but we definitely want to make it to regionals first, Amanda Chappell said.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at bobbya@cortezjournal.com.