Rocky Mountain volleyball beat Loveland in five sets — thanks, in part, to a lively student section. (Aislyn Carrillo/CHSAANow.com)
FORT COLLINS — On Tuesday night, the volleyball teams from Rocky Mountain and Loveland battled head-to-head until they no longer could put up a fight.
Loveland coach Sonja DeBord gave credit to Rocky’s student section for affecting the performance of her team during the last couple points of the match.
“Both times we lost we were on that side and that’s one of those things you tell the girls to block out, but it got into their head and affected them mentally,” Debord said.
After a tough match of five sets, the Lobos (2-1) just barely defeated the Indians (2-3) with scores of 21-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-13, and 17-15.
Both teams played very aggressively in the first set, staying within a 3-point margin almost the whole time. The set was tied at 20 and Loveland played hard defensively, forcing Rocky to call a time out. But the timeout was not enough, as Loveland took the set.
Rocky started the second set strong, immediately taking the lead and frustrating the Indians. The Lobosy lost some gas toward the middle of the set when Loveland came back to tie it at 18.
(Aislyn Carrillo/CHSAANow.com)
After a timeout called by Rocky, the Lobos came back full force taking the set 25-22.
Loveland’s defense stepped up in the third set to the extent where the Indiansy had a nine-point lead on Rocky. Rocky struggled trying to catch up to the Indians, but wasn’t able to get within five points of them.
A miscommunication on the Lobos’ side resulted in yet another set taken by the visiting team.
The Lobos were not willing to give many points up during the fourth set, and they had a steady lead on the Indians, almost doubling their score throughout. Rocky Mountain won the set 25-13.
The fifth and final set had everyone in the Den on their feet — yelling, screaming, and cheering their team on. The insanely close set brought on a crazy atmosphere in the gym.
With each point scored by Loveland, Rocky Mountain would answer soon after.
The Indians had a five-point lead on the Lobos at 13-8 when Rocky mountain coach Julie Hilt then took the opportunity to take a timeout to make adjustments and get her team’s heads in the game.
From there, Rocky Mountain tied the set at 15. Loveland’s Sofia Jacobson spiked the ball out of bounds, giving the Lobos a 16-15 lead. Then the magic happened when Lobo freshman Annika Larson served an ace to finish out the match.
Rocky senior Taira Cottingham and the rest of her team were filled with excitement when Larson finished out their intense match.
“We all went ballistic,” Cottingham said. “We are so proud of her.”
The senior added that preparation during practice came in handy during the match.
“We put so much work into this, during practice we prepare for these situations all the time and then we pull through, and it’s honestly an amazing feeling,” Cottingham said.
Hilt said she still has a lot to work on with her team regarding consistency and urgency. She plans on fixing her team’s errors and improving their play before their next match this Thursday against Broomfield.