Ponderosa beat Legend on Tuesday. More photos. (Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com)
PARKER — Tuesday night was an exciting matchup between crosstown rivals as the Ponderosa Mustangs edged the Legend Titans 3-1 (25-11, 25-14, 25-27, 25-21).
The two teams’ student sections showed up creating an electrifying atmosphere that played a big factor in the battle two highly ranked teams from their respective classes.
“There is so much hype around this match up that it’s hard not to let the crowd effect or let the crowd get in the girls heads,” said Legend coach Kate Winsor. “As much as you talk about managing that, we finally started managing it a little better in game three and playing a little bit more of our game. The team that usually shows up each and every match.”
Legend, ranked No. 4 in Class 5A, struggled the first two games to gain any type of advantage over 4A No. 2 Ponderosa, losing 25-11 and 25-14.
The Titans fought back and with the help of outside hitter Jordan Mullen. The Mustangs looked like they were going to comeback to take the lead with a 7-0 run tying the game 23-23. The Titans, determined not to lose 3-0, finished strong and took the set 27-25.
“We played outstanding in the first two sets and very poor in the third set and some how miraculously battled back in the fourth,” said Ponderosa coach Rob Graham.
Graham gave credit to middle blocker Allison Smith for her serving and blocking in the fourth set.
More photos. (Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com)
“At first I was starting to get angry because I just wanted to win, so I just changed it to just getting relaxed and calming my team down to get that last fourth game,” Smith said.
Miraculous is the right word for the Mustangs comeback.
The Titans were able to carry their momentum from the third set leading 16-8. Just when it looked like the they were going to even up the sets, Ponderosa went on two different 5-0 runs eventually taking the lead forcing Legend to call for a timeout. Mustangs were able to finish how they started winning 25-21.
Both coaches expressed how competitive their league.
“We normally have five or six teams that are in the top ten pool so it’s like every night is a really big one,” Winsor said.
“Our league is probably the toughest in my opinion,” Graham said. “We have multiple teams in the top 10 and when you can beat a team like this, that also beat someone in another league like Cherokee Trail is huge.”