No. 1 vs. No. 2

Pinon netters make a statement in four-set win over St. Michael

FORT DEFIANCE

The No. 1 ranked Pinon volleyball team put its newly minted ranking to the test on Tuesday night.

The Lady Eagles outlasted previous No. 1 St. Michael in four sets at the Beeholdzil Fighting Scouts Events Center in Fort Defiance. The set score were 23-25, 25-15, 27-25, 25-23.

“We had to win this game because it was for our section,” Pinon coach Nellie McCurtain said. “It helps us stay up in the ranking.”

For much of the season, the Eagles trailed St. Michael in the rankings until they overtook the Cardinals last week. So going into Tuesday’s match, McCurtain was expecting a tough match.

“They’re a very good team,” McCurtain said of the Cardinals. “They are really quick at getting to the ball and we had to work real hard to get our points. We had to make sure we lasted longer than they did during the rallies.”

In a nutshell that was what the Eagles did as the No. 2 ranked Cardinals were hurt by errors. St. Michael finished the match with 44 miscues including 17 service errors that either went too long or into the net.

“We definitely had a lot of errors tonight but surprisingly we lost the last two sets by two points,” St. Michael coach Andrea Ashkie said. “It says a lot about our team. If we can limit our errors I think we can be a real hard team to beat.”

On this night, though, it was the Eagles who brought their A game. No one more than senior Raquel Denny as the Pinon middle hitter finished the night with a match-high 24 kills.

As one of the area’s most imposing hitter, Denny also got very creative and seemed to find just about every crevice that was left open on St. Michael’s side.
“I was just looking for the open spots,” Denny said humbly. “It’s all about being smart when you place the ball.”

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