The Pagosa Springs High School Lady Pirates dropped their final league matchup of the season last week, falling to the Centauri Falcons 3-0 on Oct. 24.
The loss leaves the Lady Pirates with a 9-10 overall record heading into the final weekend of the season, and fourth in the Intermountain League with a 2-6 league record.
Centauri won the first set 25-12, the second 26-24 and the third 25-19.
“We started off pretty slow and low,” coach Katie Lorenzen said. “Low court chemistry and low energy, and our passing wasn’t super great, so we weren’t quite in rhythm, but we made some changes for the second and third sets and had some new people in there that just seemed to click, and we played a whole lot better — played a tight match the rest of the time.
“It was a bummer we didn’t get a set when we were really close in the second set, tied 24-24. A ball that looked like it was out they called a touch on us, and that gave them a set point. And then they won the set on the next point, so they won 26-24.”
She added Centauri has some “really athletic hitters.”
“We were playing, I’d say, in the second and third sets, phenomenal defense, just going all over the place,” she said.
Lorenzen added the team also had some hustle plays that gave the Lady Pirates some momentum, and the team’s best was good with cheering and getting into the game.
But, the coach noted, “We didn’t have a whole lot of production offensively. We barely hit above zero.”
Cadence Kerns led the team in kills with six of the team’s 21. Aspen Pitcher followed with five, and Lexi Campbell had four.
Hayden Peterson, Lorenzen highlighted, hit .500 — the best hitting percentage of the night. She logged two kills and no errors on four swings.
The team had 19 attack errors.
“We also didn’t have many assists,” Lorenzen said, pointing out Sophia Sottek had 16 of the team’s 17 assists.
Defensively, she noted, the team had “lots of exciting plays.”
She highlighted that Pitcher led in digs with 15, with Campbell logging nine.
“She played maybe one of her best back-row games,” Lorenzen said of Campbell.
The team had 47 total digs.
Kerns led the team in blocking with three solo blocks and one assisted block.
Lorenzen highlighted that Kerns also led the team in total points.
The team passed a 2.0 on the night, according to Lorenzen.
“The goal is always to pass a 2.0 or higher so that gives our setter the best chance at putting up hittable balls,” she explained.
Lorenzen also pointed out the work of one of the team’s younger players.
“Tatiana Monterroso, a sophomore, she came in and, her second time being in varsity games, and she did really well. She just has the instinct to go for the ball, and she’ll ... cross the whole gym to go for the ball and save it, and had a couple really great saves, really great hustle plays,” she said.
With league play closed for the season, the Lady Pirates are now heading into their final weekend of the regular season.
The Lady Pirates will draw the regular season to a close Friday and Saturday at the Coal Ridge tournament in New Castle.
The team will play four matches across the two days.
The first of those matches will come against Glenwood Springs at 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1.
The Demons are 14-5 on the season and previously defeated the Lady Pirates 2-0 on Aug. 23.
The Lady Pirates will then play Coal Ridge, who is entering the tournament with a 9-10 record, at 6 p.m. on Nov. 1.
The following day, Nov. 2, the Lady Pirates will play the 8-11 Delta Panthers.
The fourth game will be determined at the tournament.
“We know that we will play Glenwood Springs, the Coal Ridge, then Delta, so we were watching some film on those three teams today,” Lorenzen said Monday, adding they’ll also be watching play at the tournament to see who else they’ll play.
She added the team is looking forward to Coal Ridge.
Regional tournament brackets are set to be seeded and released on Monday, Nov. 4, with regionals taking place Nov. 8-9.
As of Wednesday, Oct. 30, the Lady Pirates were ranked 28th in the 3A seeding index.
Teams will then qualify for the state tournament by winning at regionals.
