Despite falling in championship match, Piedra Vista happy with performance

FARMINGTON – For Piedra Vista, it’s helpful to know when you’ve got one player down, one, two or three can step up.

While the Lady Panthers ended their three-year winning streak at the Panther Classic, after losing to archrivals Monument Valley (Ariz.) 3-0 (29-27, 25-23, 25-20) in the championship match, they’re happy to know they can still compete.

The Lady Panthers played short-handed with junior hitter Autumn Begay out with a leg injury. But Piedra Vista head coach Ron Becker said it hardly made a difference.

“I really feel like the sophomore that stepped in did a really good job and I’m really happy with how she played,” he said. “I don’t really feel like that there was huge damage or anything.”

That sophomore was Stephanie Schmidt and she wasn’t the only one who showed what she can do while Begay was out.

Becker said it was comforting to know that his team was just as strong as if they had a full roster.

“I think we played really, really well,” he said. “We played a really good match, it’s just they (Monument Valley) played a little bit better.”

Piedra Vista came out with an intensity carried over from a match against St. Pius.

Becker said it helped to stay in the match even though Monument Valley came out on top.

“Their intensity was way up. They did a lot better with that,” he said. “I just thought they fought hard and kept in the game the whole time. They’re just a little better team.”

Piedra Vista controlled most of the first game before the Lady Mustangs tied it at 14. The two teams shared the lead the rest of the first set. They pushed the set into overtime before Monument Valley clinched the win.

The two sets that followed were mirror images of the first. Piedra Vista controlled the game before Monument Valley pulled out the win.

Piedra Vista senior outside hitter Brittney Hitchison said going in to the match strong was what she and her teammates wanted to do.

“Just keep up our energy and keep going forth, and keep pursuing the ball like we know how to do,” she said. “We wanted to just keep heading toward making it to that next level.”

Becker said Hutchison did exceptional in her role for the weekend. He added that she was just the beginning of a line of players who stepped up throughout the weekend.

“She stuck it on the outside very well, she picked up her game quite a bit today and also last night she played really well last night,” he said.

Hutchison said while her game improved so did the rest of the team’s.

She said though they didn’t come up with the win, they learned more about themselves as a team.

“I feel like we’ve all kind of stepped up and we all started playing so much harder, and we all wanted it a lot more,” she said. “We’ve stepped up and we’ve gotten a whole lot better.”

Becker said he couldn’t have been more pleased with his team. He said there was nothing more that could be done on their end and there was nothing his team didn’t do well.

He said even those who didn’t have a prominent role stood out.

“The three passers – Sheston Culpepper, Brianna Murphy and Katherine Baker – I thought passed fantastic,” he said. “They passed really good. Usually when we struggle it’s because we’re not passing well, but I thought they did really well.”

Aside from his team, Becker said the 12-team tournament was a success.

St. Pius defeated Aztec for third place in the gold bracket. Navajo Prep defeated Shiprock for fifth place in the silver bracket, Kirtland Central defeated Grants for seventh place and the Piedra Vista junior varsity won the bronze bracket for ninth place.

“Some teams didn’t finish out where they thought they might, which is good because that mixes things up for us,” he said. “It’s just a good experience for all of them.”