MHS volleyball bags 2 wins, suffers 3 defeats in Delta

The hope for a fast start to the Montrose volleyball season was dashed in the season opener, but the hope for a successful season is still very much alive.

The Red Hawks took the court for the first time on Tuesday and fell to Delta 25-21, 18-25, 25-20, 10-25, 15-13 in a disappointing five-set thriller. It doesn’t mean that this is a team destined for a rough year, however. The girls battled through every set, coming away with two dominant wins while suffering three close defeats.

There is a feeling of encouragement in this unit, not desperation.

“We’re well ahead at this point than where we were last year,” coach Shane Forrest said. “It was a great match. In the fifth set, we had four crucial errors that if we had those back, it would’ve been a different result. But it’s all about learning and we’ll grow from it.”

The offensive effort came from some expected contributors as Brooke Williams led the hitting effort with 10 kills. Madison Lucero added nine and Maggie Legg had eight. The trio also combined for 21 aces, giving the Red Hawks (0-1 overall) a strong presence with the ball on their hands.

Taygan Rocco dished out 34 assists and Legg led the defensive presence at the net with three blocks. Stats and results aside, it was an encouraging start for a team that struggled a year ago.

The opening match against Delta a year ago was much more lopsided and really set the tone for the early struggles Montrose faced. There still might be some struggles, but having these learning experiences early in the year will help this team in its development throughout the season.

“We don’t have any easy matches this year,” Forrest said. “If we can experience those early, especially against tough teams, it’ll make us that much stronger as we get deeper into the season.”

If there is something that will help team in that regard, it’ll be consistency. Forrest saw a lot of good things from her girls in the sets that they won, they just need to apply them in every set, not just selective moments.

Having a week off before its next match, it’ll give the team some time to reflect on some of their mistakes and also build on their strengths.

“[The stretch of practice] will help,” Forrest said. “It helps us hone in on the stuff that we needed to work on and needed to do well. We needed to pass better, we started out slowly with our serve receive and we needed to pick up some tips defensively; make some reads a little better. This will give us some time to work on those things.”

Montrose will host Palisade on Tuesday before heading on the road to face Battle Mountain on Sept. 2.

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