Lady Redskins advance to Regionals

LA VETA — It was a busy week for the La Veta volleyball team as they prepared for their trip to the district playoffs. After winning their pigtail game against Mountain Valley, the girls headed into districts in the number-two seed. Saturday brought the girls over the pass to Fort Garland where they first took on the Sierra Grande Panthers. Home court advantage didn’t make any difference for the Panthers as La Veta came in and took the match in three, 25-14, 25-19, 25-15. After a short break La Veta was back in action against Centennial where once again La Veta dominated the court taking the win in three, 25-17, 25-11, 25-16, and securing their spot in the Regional playoffs. After sitting and waiting through two games, fans and players were ready for the match that they had been waiting for all day. The only team that had defeated the Lady Reds was waiting patiently to defend their number-one seed. Sangre de Cristo had played a remarkable set of games throughout the day, also securing wins against Sierra Grande and Centennial and was now ready for their match against La Veta. As the two teams battled it out, it was obvious that this game pitted two of the most closely matched teams I had ever seen play. In a point- against-point match, with volleys lasting forever, Sangre finally took the win in the first set 25-23. The second set wasn’t much different, but a few hitting errors late in the set against La Veta led the way for Sangre to take the set 25-21. The third set was all heart: the girls on both teams knew that they were only a few short points away from turning the seeding for regionals upside down. La Veta took the lead early in the third against a tiring team from Sangre. However after a couple questionable calls (to say the least) against La Veta, Sangre slipped in and tied the score at 23-23. After a complete battle at the net, Sangre finally advanced to 25-23, winning the set and securing the District Champion title. If La Veta was broken hearted you would never have guessed it. The girls came off the court composed and extremely calm after just battling through hours of intense volleyball. After shaking hands and a few sincere pats on the back with Sangre, it was all over. La Veta loaded the bus just as happy as when they arrived early that morning. Sometimes it’s not about winning but how you played the game that matters, and these girls played one heck of a game! The Lady Redskins will travel to Norwood on Saturday to play in the Class A, Region E playoffs. Their first opponent will be the number-three seed, North Park from Walden beginning at 11:30. The girls will then take on the number-one seeded team, Norwood. The Lady Reds definitely have the talent and skill to advance to the State championships but so does every other team at Regionals, and I’m predicting it will come down to a question of who maintains composure under fire and who lets it tear them apart. La Veta has proven this season to play well – if not better – under pressure, and I think they have exactly what it takes to advance to State. Good Luck at Regionals Lady Redskins!