Granite’s early flow ebbs in loss to Valley Christian

PHILIPSBURG – The Granite Lady Prospectors started fast Tuesday night against visiting Valley Christian, but as the night wore on the locals saw their energy fade and the Eagles rallied to post a come-from-behind win over Granite in four sets, 26-24, 23-25, 22-25, 15-25.

“Our consistency has been an issue all year and that’s what we’ve been trying to focus on,” said GHS Head Coach Jennifer Graham. “Keeping that energy and focus throughout and entire game; not letting anything deter us or take away from that. That’s what we’ll keep working toward. … It’s just that seed of doubt that gets into one and then creeps out and infects everyone else.

“But the beautiful thing about this season is that there is a lot of it left. So we practice day in and day out to correct those mistakes and create that consistency.”

The Lady Prospectors surged from the gate in the opener, with spirits running high and the team playing in sync. That energy led to a 1-0 lead in the match with momentum firmly in the hands of Granite.

Game two saw more of the same, but Valley managed to use a late rally to edge out a Set 2 win.

The locals opened Set 3 in solid fashion, leading at one point 19-12. But the Eagles went on a 13-3 run that left the locals on the losing end of the score.

Set 4 was dominated by Valley Christian who jumped out to a 12-6 lead and never looked back.

Senior Amelia Hill led the attack at the net with nine kills while Reece Pitcher added nine blocks. Rachel Ward had half the team’s assists with 10 and Asha Comings contributed three service aces.

Granite will venture out on the road to Victor Thursday to play the pirates before heading back home to face off with Charlo Saturday.

NOTE – The NFHS Broadcast of Tuesday’s game could not be executed as some system bugs needed to be worked out within the Granite High School internet system that could not be foreseen. Granite hopes to have those bugs worked out prior to its next home game Saturday against Charlo.