The Pagosa Springs High School Lady Pirates moved to a 2-8 record after taking on a trio of opponents over the last week.
“It’s been a busy week with some highs and lows,” coach Chelsea Caler wrote in a statement to The SUN. “We pulled out an exciting win over Del Norte, then dropped matches to Cortez and Bayfield.”
On Thursday, Sept. 11, the Lady Pirates welcomed the 2A Del Norte Tigers to town for a matchup, the hosts sending their visitors home with a 3-2 loss.
Del Norte took the first set of the night 25-21, but the Lady Pirates bounced back to win the second and third sets, 25-22 and 25-21, respectively. Del Norte kept the evening’s action alive by winning the fourth set 25-21. The Lady Pirates won the night’s final set 15-12 to take the 3-2 win.
The Lady Pirates logged 36 kills en route to the win, with Lexi Campbell leading the team with nine, followed by Dawson Iverson with eight, and Kaila Limebrook and Avea Bruce with seven each.
The Lady Pirates notched 10 serving aces, with seven Lady Pirates recording at least one. Charity Domingo led with three, followed by Iverson with two.
The team had six total blocks, which included a solo block by Iverson and 10 assisted blocks. Hayden Peterson picked up four assisted blocks, which was followed by Iverson’s three.
The Lady Pirates tallied 61 digs in the matchup, led by Campbell’s 13, 12 each from Peterson and Tatiana Monterroso, and 11 from Amber Snarr.
The team had 28 assists, with Peterson putting up 22 of those.
The team logged 58 serve receptions, with Campbell picked up 22 and Snarr adding 15.
The Tigers are now 3-3 on the season.
On Saturday, Sept. 13, the Lady Pirates traveled to Cortez to take on the Montezuma-Cortez Panthers for a league affair.
The Lady Pirates jumped to an early lead in the matchup, winning the first set 25-22, before dropping the following three sets 25-13, 25-15 and 26-16, respectively, to return home with the 3-1 loss.
The Lady Pirates logged 35 kills in the matchup, led by 13 from Campbell and eight each from Bruce and Limebrook.
The Lady Pirates had six serving aces, with Domingo logging four and Campbell notching two.
The team had six total blocks, with Peterson putting up two solo blocks and the team putting up eight block assists, led by three from Limebrook.
The Lady Pirates recorded 72 digs, led by Snarr’s 18, Campbell’s 15 and Peterson’s 13.
The team had 31 assists, with Peterson putting up 28 of those.
The team had 71 serve receptions, with Campbell logging 29 serve receptions and Snarr tallying 24.
The Panthers are now 8-5 on the season.
On Tuesday, Sept. 16, the No. 37 Lady Pirates welcomed the No. 18 Bayfield Wolverines to town to continue league play, but sent their visitors home with a 3-0 win.
Bayfield won in three sets: 25-16, 25-14 and 25-18.
The game’s stats were not available by press time Wednesday.
Despite the losses, Caler indicates she’s seeing improvement in the Lady Pirates.
“Our offense is starting to come alive, and our blocking improves every game—we’re getting more touches at the net,” Caler wrote. “The losses are tough, but the team adapted well to some dynamic shifts. Moving forward, the focus will be on making a few defensive adjustments against faster teams, and keeping our offense aggressive and versatile against strong defenses like Cortez and Bayfield.”
This weekend, the Lady Pirates will travel to La Jara to take on the Centauri Falcons.
The Falcons sat as the No. 9 team in the 3A rankings as of Wednesday and hold a 6-3 record.
Both the Falcons and the Lady Pirates have already faced off with Alamosa this season, with both falling to No. 1 Alamosa in three sets.
The matchup is set to begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20.
Then, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, the Lady Pirates will head to Kirtland, N.M., for a matchup with the Kirtland Central Broncos.
The Broncos are 4-3 on the season.
randi@pagosasun.com
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