Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com
The Summit High School girls varsity volleyball team weathered some adversity to defeat Rifle on the road on Saturday for their first victory of the season.
After a pair of starters — middle Olivia Brewer and outside hitter Camden Gallen — were lost with ankle injuries suffered on the first play in practice, the Tigers came back to defeat the Bears three sets to two on Saturday.
Despite missing Brewer’s talent and leadership and Gallen’s consistency, the Tigers didn’t wilt after dropping the first set to the Bears 22-25. Tigers second-year head coach Kelly Schneweis said the Tigers serving came through in the second set, as several aces led to a 25-10 victory and a swing in momentum.
After Summit won the third 25-13 for a 2-1 match lead, the Bears responded, working to get the Tigers a bit out of rhythm and win the fourth set 25-13 for a 2-2 match tie, forcing a decisive first-to-15-points fifth set.
In final set, the Tigers started off strong before winning 15-11 to clinch the match victory.
“Toward the end a lot of points went our way,” Schneweis said. “We had a lot of good serves, and we were able to run our middle a couple of times. The last couple of points were a kill, an ace and a kill, so we were able to earn a lot of points and not wait for the other team to make a mistake.”
“It’s our first win,” Schneweis continued, “and I think we were playing really hard. The girls just kind of had to figure it out and figure it out fast, and they worked well as a team, were communicating well, and we got the win.”
The Tigers will return to action at home on Tuesday when they take on Aspen at Summit High at 6:30 p.m.