by Angie Daly
West Grand Parent
The Lady Mustangs saw their volleyball season end Saturday night in Denver after losing 6 straight sets to Denver Christian and Addenbrooke Classical Academy. The ladies faced a very strong opponent and the defending state champion in Denver Christian, and they could never get their momentum going after trailing at the start of the first set 0-5. They lost to the Thunder 25-8 in the first set and just could not get going from that defeat. While the Thunder kept the Mustangs on their toes, they attacked the team with solid hitting and serving, and the Mustangs could not recover. The ladies had a stronger performance in the second set, making it a little closer, but still lost by double digits, 25-13. The third set was much of the same, and again our Mustangs lost 25-13. The Lady Mustangs had a solid performance from Morgan Nelson, but the Thunder were just too much for the Lady Mustangs to handle.
The second match of the night found the Mustangs squaring off against Addenbrooke Classical Academy Mustangs. This was a match-up that our lady netters should have won. The first set against Addenbrooke saw Alex Schake take control of the net, but with too many unforced errors the Mustangs lost the first set 25-23. The second set found the Mustangs again making too many mistakes and found Addenbrooke just taking it to our girls, 25-14. The third set found our ladies taking it to Addenbrooke and taking an early lead of 10-6. We were aggressive on the net, and our ladies continued to play with heart and dedication. Morgan Nelson went out of the game with a bloody nose in the third set, and we lost some momentum, but they continued to fight. With a lead of 24-22, the Mustangs just could not finish what they started and lost the set 27-25.
The 2021 Volleyball season saw the Lady Mustangs give us a great preview into next fall. This team was full of young players who until this year had little varsity experience. This group will be led by three seniors next year: Alex Schake, Maddie Probst and Audree Miller. These ladies were the leaders for this team this year and will only continue to get stronger over the next few months. They will be joined by four juniors: Sage Lechman, Morgan Nelson, Lilly Butler and Allison Daly. Best wishes to Lisi Buller as she is moving prior to the start of the next school year; she will be missed. These ladies got some valuable experience this year and will enter next fall with that experience and a desire to continue the Mustangs’ winning ways.
Thank you to those who supported these ladies this season. Hopefully next year this group will continue to work together and provide West Grand with another exciting volleyball season.
