SANFORD – After opening the season with a five-set loss at La Veta on Friday, the Sanford High School volleyball team played at home for the first time on Saturday.
The Lady Mustangs played Gunnison in the home opener, however, they were swept by the Cowboys. The scores were 25-19, 25-10 and 25-12.
Serving proved to be the big difference as Gunnison had 11 service aces compared to four for Sanford.
“They had a lot of aces and we had a lot of errors,” said Sanford coach Melissa Faucette. “If we can minimize errors, it’s going to change.”
Gunnison scored the first point of the first set, but Sanford scored two straight. The Cowboys also had a 2-0 run, but the Lady Mustangs had a 4-1 run to take a 6-4 lead.
Gunnison answered with a 7-2 rally for an 11-8 lead. Sanford pulled to within 12-11, however, the Cowboys scored four consecutive points, which included two aces by Ruthie Lock, to increase their advantage to 16-11.
Sanford pulled to within 16-14, but the Cowboys went on a 6-1 run to increase the margin to 22-15. The Lady Mustangs closed to within 24-19, but Kathryn Frey slammed a kill to give Gunnison a 25-19 win.
The two team opened the second set by scoring a points, but the Cowboys six unanswered points for a 7-1 lead. Bella Peterson ended the run with a kill, but Gunnison went on a 10-0 rally for a 17-2 lead. Frey had three aces in the run.
The Lady Mustangs reduced the deficit to 20-7, but the Cowboys scored four in a row. Sanford pulled to within 24-10, but Aubrey Welfelt’s kill ended the set with Gunnison winning 25-10.
Sanford began the third set by scoring the first two points. But Gunnison had a 5-1 run for a 5-3 lead.
The Lady Mustangs narrowed the margin to 6-5 before Gunnison scored 11 consecutive points for a 17-5 advantage. Rose Kowal served up two aces in the run.
The Cowboys finished strong with an 8-7 run to win the set and match 25-12.
Brooklynn Reynolds led the Sanford offense with 12 assists. Avery Koenig was the leader in kills with four, followed by Peterson and Riley Willett both with three.
Shasta Bond led in aces with two, followed by Reynolds and Rose Schwartz both with one.
Sanford (0-2) will open Southern Peaks League play on Thursday as it will travel to Monte Vista. The first match begins at 5 p.m.
The Lady Mustangs will head to Kremmling this weekend for the West Grand Invitational.
