Maggie Sherrill has found a great way to deal with the pressure of varsity volleyball. Just heap it on the other team.
Sherrill and the rest of the 10th-ranked Colorado Academy Mustangs piled everything they could on the Denver Lutheran Lights on Wednesday — big hits, tall blocks and hard serves, anything to “get them back on their heels.”
That translated into early leads in every game, less pressure and a comfortable 25-8, 25-19, 25-14 Class 3A Metropolitan League victory.
“Nothing ever really takes the pressure off,” Sherrill conceded. “There’s always pressure in games.”
Sherrill, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, was the most dynamic of several strong hitters for the Mustangs (7-2, 2-0 in league).
Sherrill had a team-best eight kills, senior Mady Bigelow had five kills, and middles Alex Sadler and Jessika Mozia combined for five kills and three blocks. Sophomore setter Faith Meyer had 16 assists.
Save for a dominant blocking display early in the third game, the Mustangs’ early leads didn’t come with a lot of kills. The Mustangs led 9-1 in the first game, 6-1 in the second and 13-1 in the third to force the Lights (4-4, 0-1) to scramble.
“We’re trying,” longtime Mustangs coach Guy Garcia said of his young team. “We’re trying to get better. We’d like to make the state tournament.”
The Mustangs trailed only once, but did have to fight off a sustained attack by the Lights in Game 2, led by sophomore Taylor Sturms, who hammered home a game-high 16 kills. Colorado Academy’s 6-1 lead disappeared and the Lights tied the score five times before the Mustangs — behind Sadler, Sherrill and Mozia — pulled away.
Sturms and setter Erin Sandoval (15 assists) ran the show for the Lights, who were a bit unsettled at the game-time loss of senior outside hitter Maddie Vincel (migraine).
“It wasn’t one of our better games,” Lights coach Alicia Oates said. “We’re a young team, but these kind of games are what we need to make us mentally tougher. Physically, in Game 2, we showed we can play with the best in our league. Mentally, we have to get over that.”
