Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com
BRECKENRIDGE — The Tigers girls volleyball team’s trajectory is headed in the right direction, but the challenge Battle Mountain posed Thursday proved too much for Summit High School (2-2).
The Tigers lost three sets to one on their home court as the Huskies won the first set 25-10, the third set 25-19 and the fourth set 25-17. The Tigers were able to win the second set 25-20, to knot up the match early, before the Huskies (4-2) regained control of the match in the third set.
Reflecting on the game, Tigers second-year head coach Kelly Schneweis said despite the loss she was proud of the fact the Tigers were able to take a set from the Huskies, who finished as a top 15 team in the state last season. Schneweis described the Huskies as a team familiar with playing with one another, one that is physical at the net and hard to hit around.
“They make you work extra hard to work on your shot selection,” Schneweis said.
Despite the challenges the Huskies presented, the Tigers were able to build a seven-point lead on the Huskies in that second set. Schneweis credited Summit’s defense for stepping up Thursday.
“Battle Mountain was able to power through a lot more than a lot of teams we’ve played,” Schneweis said. “Our defenders had to adjust, and we had a little bit of a game plan going into it. We executed as best we could in the back row.”
Schneweis said senior Anna Confer, senior libero Courtney Brown and senior Mackenzie Westenskow made several defensive plays for the Tigers. The senior trio also showed tremendous resolve in leading a Summit team without injured senior Camden Gallen and junior Olivia Brewer. Schneweis said the Tigers hope Gallen will return next week and Brewer will return in three weeks.
“A year ago, we would have folded sooner,” Schneweis said. “In the fourth set, we kept pushing. We didn’t care about the score. We tried to better ourselves. You could tell the athletes were still motivated and were working well together.”
With a road game at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Rifle, Schneweis said the Tigers need to work on playing faster, especially on offense.
“And that starts in practice,” she said. “Doing drills that emulate other teams blocking abilities. And also just that transition, being able to transition a lot faster and stay in system. I feel last night we were out of system often, and that’s a credit to Battle Mountain’s serving. We passed well, but we weren’t in system like we’d hoped to be.”