-
Glenwood Springs sophomore Kenzie Winder tips the ball over the net during the fourth set against Montrose Saturday inside Chavez-Spencer Gymnasium.
Josh Carney / Post Independent
-
Glenwood Springs senior Emily Nilsson (13) tips a shot over the net as Montrose sophomore Taylor Foster defends Saturday inside Chavez-Spencer Gymnasium.
Josh Carney / Post Independent
-
Glenwood Springs senior Shanik Zambrano sets the ball during Saturday’s match with Montrose.
Josh Carney / Post Independent
-
Montrose senior Madison Shatterly spikes the ball over the net as Glenwood sophomore Charlotte Olszewski (8) and senior Emily Nilsson (13) look on.
Josh Carney / Post Independent
A first-set win Saturday inside Chavez-Spencer Gymnasium for the Glenwood Springs Demons girls volleyball team appeared to put the Demons in great position to extend their winning streak to 6 matches. The visiting Montrose Indians had other ideas, winning the next 3 sets to claim a 3-1 win on the road in non-league action, snapping Glenwood’s winning streak at 5 straight matches.
Looking to power through what has been a long week for the Demon volleyball team, Glenwood came out firing in the first set, battling back from an early 8-4 deficit to tie the set up at 11-11 on a kill by senior Kaitlyn Johnson. From there, the two teams traded points leading to a 15-15 tie before Glenwood took over the set at 17-16 on a serving error by the Indians.
A well-placed tip from senior Shanik Zambrano made it 19-17 Glenwood before the Demons stretched the lead to 21-18, forcing a Montrose timeout.
Following the quick stoppage, Glenwood put the game away as junior Kiah Larson recorded an ace and senior Emily Nilsson tipped a shot over the net into the middle of the Montrose defense for game point, giving Glenwood a key 25-22 win.
After that though, it was mostly all Montrose.
Opening up the second set, Johnson recorded a kill to give the Demons an early 1-0 lead, but that would be the final lead of the set for the Demons as Montrose pulled away to take an 11-4 lead on a block and a kill from senior Madison Hickert. Glenwood tried to battle back, thanks to an ace from Larson that made it 12-8, but a block and a thunderous kill from senior Madison Satterly opened things up for the Indians at 15-11.
“I think a lot of it was their coach switching things up and forcing us to do something different,” said Kehau Rust, Glenwood’s third-year head coach. “Our girls, it’s been a long week, and I think it kind of started to show. We had really good moments showing good heart and hustle, but then we had moments of about 70 percent effort and not talking. I think a lot of that has to do with being tired, and then we weren’t able to push through being tired.”
Glenwood junior sophomores Charlotte Olszewski and Kenzie Winder combined for a huge block at the net a few points later to make it 16-13, but a tip from Hickert and a combination block at the net by Hickert and senior Caraline Burwell sent the Indians to a 25-16 win, knotting the match up at 1-1.
In the pivotal third set, the two teams traded points back and forth throughout, highlighted by a huge dig on a Satterly spike by Larson, leading to a key Glenwood point to tie the set at 10-10. Larson’s dig seemed to ignite the Demons as Montrose was called for 4 hits on the ensuing point before a kill from Olszewski made it 13-10 Glenwood. Montrose battled back though as Satterly spiked one to the floor and sophomore Madison Matoush recorded an ace to make it 15-13 Indians.
“We knew about her [Satterly] coming in; we watched film on her,” Rust said. “We have young people in that position defending her, and I think they learned a lot today and fought hard. But when you have a big hitter like that you’re going up against, you just congratulate them.”
The Demons later pulled to within one point at 19-18, but the Indians scored 6 straight points from there, highlight by a kill from Burwell and a tip from Hickert to go up 2-1, thanks to the 25-18 win.
In the final set of the day, the Demons left it all out on the court, combining with the Indians for a thrilling fourth set.
Down 2-1 in the match, Glenwood came out determined, racing to a 5-1 lead thanks to a kill from Zambrano and a pair of kills from Winder.
“As a young player, it’s terrifying in a do-or-die situation,” Rust said. “But her competitiveness and her true athleticism is why we go to her; we know she isn’t going to hesitate on it and give it 100 percent.”
Glenwood then stretched the lead to 9-3, but Montrose came right back thanks to 3 straight aces from sophomore Kelsey Rocco and a kill from Burwell, making it a 9-8 set.
A tip by Larson ended Montrose’s run, making it 10-8 Glenwood, but the Indians didn’t blink, fighting all the way back to make it 18-17 Glenwood on a kill by Rocco.
The Demons then responded by stretched the lead to 21-18 thanks to a combination block by Nilsson and Winder, but Montrose stormed back to make it a 24-24 game on a thunderous kill by Satterly.
Winder then recorded a pair of kills sandwiched around a kill by Satterly, but the Demons couldn’t overcome Montrose’s play as Hickert and Burwell combined for a block at the net on Zambrano, giving the Indians a 28-26 set win and a 3-1 match win on the road.
The loss drops Glenwood to 8-3 (4-0 in 4A WSL) on the year. In the loss, Zambrano led the Demons with 11 kills, while Johnson added 8 kills and 9 digs. Nilson chipped in with 5 kills, 4 blocks and 14 assists, while junior Reese Goluba added 17 assists. Olszewski added 6 kills and 7 blocks.
The Demons travel to Summit Tuesday for a 4A WSL matchup with the Tigers at 6:30 p.m. before then traveling to Palisade Thursday for a big league battle with the Bulldogs.
“Today was a huge learning day for us,” Rust said. “The girls know what they need to work on; I think this was a huge test for us going into that Palisade game because it shows us where we struggled and where we need to improve.”
