During game one of its home Grand Canyon Region matchup against No. 13 Prescott High School, the Mingus Union High School volleyball team was in system and stayed competitive despite losing 25-22.
Then the Marauders [3-11, 2-7] dropped off, falling in game two 25-8 and in game three 25-20 on Tuesday, Oct. 17.
“They got comfortable with the fact that they were in the game, and with good teams like Prescott, who are top of our conference, you can’t do that,” Marauders head coach Chelsea Chavez said.
The hosts led 11-6. They saw the game tied up at 13-13 before the third-place Badgers went on a 7-4 run to open a 20-16 lead, propelled by two service aces from Prescott senior outside hitter Madison Wood.
However Mingus pulled it back to 21-21 behind three of senior outside hitter Katelyn Prouty’s five kills in the set.
The Badgers closed the set out with a block, a kill on a joust and another Wood kill.
Marauders sophomore setter Olivia Gordon had six assists in the set while junior middle hitter Kaitlyn Card and senior middle hitter Julian Smyda each recorded two blocks. Card also had three digs.
Set two was a stark contrast to the first. Prescott jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never looked back. At one point Wood had three consecutive aces, and the Badgers recorded five total.
Only two of the Marauders points came on kills.
Game three started off much better for Mingus. Freshman outside hitter Kylah Vincent and junior middle hitter Lexi Ough started, both recent call ups from junior varsity.
Within the first six points Vincent recorded three services aces and three digs.
Her aces, all three in a row, opened a 4-1 lead for her team. Smyda blocked a ball for a kill and Ough hit an ace to go up 8-4 and force a Badgers timeout. Smyda recorded three blocks in the set, Ough had two.
“Katelyn Prouty, she was on fire that first game, and Kylah Vincent, she rises to the occasion,” Chavez said. “I’m happy that I pulled her up and I’m happy I’ll have her the next three years.”
The lead grew to 11-5 behind a pair of Prescott hitting errors. Smyda had a thundering solo block on Wood to go up 13-8, and recorded an overpass kill on the next point. Mingus appeared to have rebounded from the letdown in the prior set.
It eventually led 16-9, but then the Badgers came back in a big way. The visitors pulled off a 14-3 run to take the lead in the latter, pivotal part of the set at 23-19.
Wood made it 24-19 and a block ended the match.
The Marauders traveled to Mohave High School for another Grand Canyon Region matchup, falling 3-2 on Monday, Oct. 23. They then went to No. 9 Coconino High School on Tuesday, Oct. 24, for its final away match of the season. RESULT.
