(Aislyn Carrillo/CHSAANow.com)
WINDSOR — This season the Windsor volleyball team has developed a pattern of not playing so well at home. On Tuesday, the Wizards broke that pattern, securing their No. 2 ranking in conference and defeating Erie 3-1.
Windsor (15-4 overall, 11-3 Tri-Valley League), ranked No. 7 in Class 4A, may have had a slow start but they had an unstoppable finish with scores of 15-25, 25-16, 25-21, and 25-20.
All Windsor coach Laverne Huston wanted from her team was to see them play consistent throughout the start to the finish of the match. Aside from the first set, her team exceeded her expectations.
“Sets two through four were better, there were still some inconsistencies and crucial errors at times,” Huston said. “I thought we definitely played a much more controlled match toward the end.”
The Wizards needed this win for more reasons than to just increase their record, they also needed it to build for this weekend’s upcoming tournament and, of course, regionals, which begin next week.
Huston believes her team will be able to take a lot of positive from this match. With Erie (14-8 overall, 7-7 league) playing so well and a Windsor’s starting defensive specialist out, her team faced adversity and had to recuperate fast.
Huston was impressed with how the players off the bench performed.
“We saw some of our other players contribute and we proved to ourselves that we have the confidence and ability to battle against a good team and come out on top,” said Huston.
(Aislyn Carrillo/CHSAANow.com)
Windsor holds their second place spot in the Tri-Valley behind Holy Family. The Wizards have beaten Holy Family twice this season, but their loss to Berthoud is what keeps them from stealing the top spot in conference.
The Tigers were successful in their first set with the Wizards. They consistently maintained a lead on Windsor almost doubling their score throughout the set.
After that, their serve-receive went from top notch to decent and Windsor took advantage of this weakness for the duration of the match.
“It’s a slippery slope,” said Erie coach Russell Fox. “You don’t have good serve receive, you don’t have good offense.”
The remainder of the sets started out close with tight scores, but the Wizards managed to hold the Tigers every single time.
The third set was especially close. Erie was down by six points when Windsor hit the 20-point mark. The Tigers were able to gain those six points while only allowing the Wizards to score three points.
The scores stayed within a two-point margin up until the final straw of the fourth set. The enthusiastic crowd grew louder and Windsor’s offense and defense played harder, upping their lead to five points and taking the victory.
A slow defense and miscommunication from the Tigers resulted in an achievement for Windsor.
Going into this weekend’s Cheyenne Mountain tournament and postseason play, the Wizards believe they have more to accomplish.
“I feel like us as a whole can do great things if we work together if we eliminate the roller coaster and get our emotions straight,” said Wizard Ally Kennis.