(Aislyn Carrillo/CHSAANow.com)
GREELEY — Greeley West volleyball was aware that its match against Rocky Mountain would be a challenge but they had a positive mindset heading into it.
“I’m confident,” coach Julie Hagemeister said beforehand. “I think we had a great game last week that showed us that we can continue the fight. The girls and I are excited.”
Turns out, the Spartans (4-12 overall, 3-5 league) confidence was not enough to defend Rocky’s talent. Tenth-ranked Rocky (12-2 overall, 9-0 league) remains undefeated in the Class 5A Front Range league after sweeping the Greeley West Spartans (3-0).
The outcome of the fast-paced match resulted in a Lobo win with scores of 25-14, 25-14 and 25-11.
The Spartans started out the first set strong with a four-point lead, which would be their biggest lead the entire match. When Rocky was down 8-4, the first timeout of the match was called.
“We had a little chat about focusing and I think they went back out, started to communicate with each other, and refocus,” said Rocky Mountain coach Julie Hilt.
A pep talk from Hilt was all the Lobos needed to come back full-force. The Lobos began to conquer the ball and the Spartans reacted slowly, making many serve-receive mistakes. The Lobos ended the set with two aces in a row for the 25-14 win.
Greeley West battled during the second set but it was not enough to overcome the Lobos who were terminating the ball both offensively and defensively. Rocky Senior Taira Cottingham had over a handful of kills during this match that added to the Lobos score.
Going into the third set, Rocky was on a roll. The Lobos were locked in and Greeley West seemed to have checked out. The Spartans’ net violations, service errors, miscommunication and slow defense held them from being able to keep up with the Lobos, who had a very minor amount of errors.
At set point, Greeley West had possession of the ball but they made four contacts — handing Rocky the set point. The Lobos finished off the match with a 14-point lead.
Hilt and her team’s goal is to win conference, but they are anticipating going into the end of their season with their next three matches against Fossil, Legacy, and Fairview.
(Aislyn Carrillo/CHSAANow.com)
“Hopefully we can keep building on thing we need to work on and get better so that we can compete in these matches and hopefully win them,” Hilt said.
Senior outside hitter Taira Cottingham has high expectations for her team as well. She is confident that her team has the drive to stay undefeated and take the conference title.
At the end of the match, the fans and teams from both schools contributed donations to the Side Out Foundation in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness night.
People pledged a certain amount of money for each kill that would be made during the match. The Spartans ended up with 18 kills and the Lobos ended up with 39, doubling the Spartans kills. A total of $505 will be donated to the Side Out Foundation.