Granite wins matchup with county rival Drummond
DRUMMOND – A lot of people missed some very good volleyball Tuesday night.
The Lady Prospectors outlasted the Lady Trojans 3-2 in a five-game match that displayed great volleyball played by both sides. In the end the difference was Granite getting on a mini-run at just the right time to claim a 25-21, 21-25, 26-28, 27-25, 16-14.
The win leaves both teams at 3-2 on the year in conference play.
“There was a point where we just decided to come together and play as a team,” said Granite Head Coach Jennifer Graham. “We showed some mental toughness tonight. If we can start to do that consistently, and do it for an entire match, there’s no telling what could happen.
“We have to have trust as a team and have each other’s backs; the players, the parents, the coaches – everyone. We do that and we’ll play well.”
On the other side of the ledger, the Lady Trojans also felt very good about the match despite the loss.
“They fought for every point,” said first year Drummond Head Coach Shona Bradshaw. “They really kept each other up and stayed excited. “We need to work on serving under pressure. We made some mental errors that hurt us. We just have to learn to stay out of own heads.”
Drummond mounted relatively large leads in the first three games, but couldn’t hold off Granite in the opener. But the Lady Trojans rallied back to win games two and three. Game four saw the Lady Prospectors get a small lead early and hold on for the win. But the rubber game of the match was a see-saw battle that Granite only won when it managed to put three straight points together and rally from being down 14-13.
The Tallon girls led Granite in kills, with Maddie and Haddie collecting seven apiece. Emma Grange was tops assists with 23 and digs with 22. Sierra Metesh had six of the team’s 14 service aces and Amelia Hill registered half of the teams three blocks.
For the Lady Trojans Hannah Bradshaw was the team leader in service aces with five and kills with 11.Sara Kielley had 16 assists while Rylee Hilmo chipped in 14. Deana Parke had three digs while Sydney Phillips, Kielley and Hilmo had one block each.
Drummond takes to the road this weekend, playing in Twin Bridges Friday and Seeley Lake Saturday. Granite heads to Lima Thursday and then plays in the Victor Duals Saturday, also on the road.
