Lady Lobos Win Crown At Snowflake Invitational

By Greg Perkins
   The Lady Lobos headed into their own volleyball tournament last weekend with an unbeaten record, thanks to picking up two more wins during the week.
   Last Tuesday they took down Alchesay in three straight games, 25-9, 25-12 and 25-13. In that match, Jessica Johnson had seven kills and an ace; Reagan Godfrey, two aces and 10 assists; Alex Merrill, two kills; Brooklyn Rogers, 10 assists; Paij Black, two assists; Jacquelyn Wolfe, three assists; Courtney Reidhead, four kills; Kelcie Brimhall, three kills, two aces, a block and two digs; Sherrida Fish, two kills; Brittany Titus, five kills, an ace, a block and a dig; and Taylor Brubaker, four kills, two aces and a block.
   On Thursday they completed their pre-tournament tune up with a three-game road win at St. Johns. The Lady Lobos took the first game 25-17, the second, 25-10, and finished the match with a third game, 26-24 win.
   Godfrey had 13 assists; Johnson, 13 kills and two aces; Merrill, two kills; Rogers, an ace and seven assists; Black, three assists; Wolfe, a kill and an assist; Reidhead, five kills and two aces; Brimhall, three digs; Fish, a kill and an assist; Titus, nine kills and two digs; and Brubaker, four kills.
   With those wins the Lady Lobos headed into their own invitational tournament with a perfect record of 10 wins and no losses. In the tourney they suffered their first loss of the season to Holbrook, but bounced back to defeat the Lady Roadrunners twice in bracket play to capture the championship on Saturday.
   The Lady Lobos opened pool play on Friday against St. Johns and won both games, 25-11 and 25-11. They then took down Mogollon, winning both pool play games 25-19 and 25-15. Next came Winslow, which also fell to the Lady Lobos although the match was a little closer with Snowflake on top 26-24 and 25-21. In their fourth pool play match they dropped a close match to Holbrook in three games 18-25, 25-19 and 15-13.
   In pool one, which included Marana Mountain View, Blue Ridge, Joseph City, Chino Valley and Show Low, the Lady Yellowjackets ended up seeded first after winning a three-way tiebreaker. Mountain View was second, Joseph City, third, Show Low, fourth, and Chino Valley, fifth.
   In pool two, Holbrook was the top seed, followed by Snowflake, Winslow, Mogollon and St. Johns.
   With pool play completed on Friday, the teams returned to the court on Saturday for a double elimination tournament.
   Snowflake opened with a win over Joseph City, 27-25 and 25-18, to advance in the bracket. The Lady Lobos then took down Mogollon 25-16 and 25-12 to advance to the semifinal round, where they avenged the earlier loss to Holbrook again in three games, 25-18, 20-25 and 15-13.
   That win put the Lady Lobos into the finals, where they awaited the winner of the second and third place match. Holbrook defeated Blue Ridge in three games, to earn another shot at Snowflake for the third time in two days.
   The championship match then became the rubber match, with both teams having beaten the other in close matches. This time around the Lady Lobos claimed the upper hand in just two games, winning the inaugural championship 25-17 and 25-21.
   “We felt we had been building little by little for our own tournament, compiling the 10-0 record. We knew with the 10 teams attending the competition would be tough. We faced our first loss of the tournament to Holbrook, but we ended up avenging that loss by beating them twice in bracket play, including the title match,” said Coach Alan Ramage. “That loss in pool play helped remind my girls that losing hurts. My girls are competitors, and I feel if you don’t hurt after a loss, then something is wrong. We played much better volleyball on Saturday and ended up playing a pretty good match in the finals.
   “The team played great at times and showed need for improvement at times. We played well as a team, but one stand out was Courtney Reidhead. She played a great last two matches in the tournament. She is a junior who played two of her best games right when we needed her. Our passing improved throughout the day and our offense got stronger. We seem to be coming together as a team. I have hope that every girl on my team will improve even more and we may give the conference title a run,” said the coach.
   The Lady Lobos will host St. Johns on Thursday, Sept. 24, then face a stern test on Saturday, Sept. 26, when they travel to Kayenta to take on the defending champs, the Monument Valley Lady Mustangs. On Tuesday, Sept. 29, they return to region action with a trip to Eagar to meet the Round Valley Lady Elks.