(Ariana Freeman/CHSAANow.com)
BROOMFIELD — Looking to continue their momentum in in league play, the Broomfield Eagles were more than prepared for Mountain Range, downing the Mustangs 3-0 (25-16, 25-10, 25-21) Wednesday night.
Trying to remain undefeated at home the Eagles (5-4 overall, 2-0 5A Front Range League) started off strong in the first set of the match gaining a 10-9 lead and holding on to that lead finishing the set 25-6 against the Mustangs (3-4, 0-1).
“Being at home definitely meant something to us,” outside hitter Mari Boyer said. “Especially playing against Mountain Range, since we have struggled with them in the past we wanted to come out swinging.”
The senior believes that her team needs to work on consistency along with playing as a team all the time and if they get that down they could go far.
The Eagles quickly jumped ahead with a quick 14-5 lead in the second set, and again were able to maintain the lead throughout the set only this time with sophomore Nicole Gonzales leading the team with defensive stops that helped their momentum carry on to widen the gap to 22-9 before getting the 25-10 win.
Though only a sophomore, Gonzales’ confidence not only shows on the court but off as well. Some might that being an underclassmen puts her at a disadvantage to be able to step up as a leader, but she sees things differently.
“I don’t believe that my age has anything to do with me being able to step up and take on a big role for the team,” she said.
On the other end, Brooke Buchan — the senior captain of the Mustangs — wasn’t going to let her team go down without a fight. Making several strike plays and talking to her team they started off the third set looking brand new, taking their first lead since early on in the first set against the Eagles.
The Mustangs kept the spark going holding on to the lead at 16-15, determined to fight to the very end. The game came to a thrilling end after over seven lead changes in the last set alone. In order to move forward and have a successful season Mountain Range coach Melissa Sayre believes it will be on the underclassmen.
“We have a really young team,” she said. “And so the work for us is to get them incorporated and use to the system playing with other players that they’ve never played with or against before.”
Buchan walked away from Wednesday’s match knowing that her team has the ability to put wins, they just need the effort to match the desire.
“The team needs to start playing harder earlier on but I believe that we can do it,” she said.
After coming out so strong in the first two sets and capturing an early lead and being able to maintain them, the Eagles didn’t look like they had the same intensity in the final set as they had shown in the first two.
Boyer believes that it was because the team underestimated the Mustangs. But they were able to battle back in the final set, getting some much needed production from the younger members of the team.
“The underclassmen really stepped up big and we couldn’t have won the game without them,” Broomfield coach Jeff Larson said. “We still are a young team and learning how to mesh together with new starters, we won’t focus on this win too much. We have another game tomorrow on the road against another good team.”
The Eagles hit the road Thursday as they travel north to take on Rocky Mountain. Mountain Range heads back home for a match against Greeley West. That match is also scheduled for Thursday.