Volleyball: Legacy snuffs Boulder in four sets
Oct. 17—BOULDER — Losing 10 seniors from a program is never easy for any team, but a small-court sport like volleyball makes that kind of transition from season to season that much more interesting.
Legacy seems to be acclimating just fine.
On Tuesday night at Boulder, the Lightning cruised to a 3-1 victory (25-16, 25-18, 23-25, 25-11) while staving off a bit of a comeback from the Panthers, who are enjoying a strong season in their own right.
Coming into the contest, senior Kaci Esplin was leading the attack with 197 kills, but sophomore Aislin Oldach hung right with her with 141 of her own. The pair helped lead the Lightning to their 14th win of the waning season.
"Being one of the only returners, I was having really low hopes, to be honest, with losing 10 seniors," Esplin said. "But I'm really proud of this team. I think we're practicing really well. I think, for the most part, we're just going, we're balling out. We're going out there, putting everything on the court for our seniors and everyone that cares so much about the game. And I think our defense has really stepped up."
The Lightning sparked early in the first set as they burst out to an early five-point lead, then maintained control of the pace of play until they secured a 25-16 victory. The second frame wasn't so easy.
This time around, The Panthers claimed the early advantage, only to see Legacy match their efforts closely. When the game tied up at 14-14, Elle Johnson stepped up to serve. She propelled the Lightning to a 20-14 buffer before they secured the second set with a 25-18 decision.
After the Panthers spent the first two sets building up their potential energy, they turned kinetic in the third and, after working for each and every point, burst through with a 25-23 victory to force a fourth.
Senior Palmer Robinson said that kind of breakthrough — and the turnaround from last year's 3-20 squad — had been a long time coming.
"It's really fun. I think we've really noticed all our potential coming together and just all the hard work we've put in and time over the summer," Robinson said. "I think it's camaraderie and just focusing on being good teammates. Putting in the work for one another is really what helped us make the difference."
The Lightning quickly extinguished Boulder's flame after that, taking control early into the fourth set and never relinquishing it en route to a 25-11 victory.
The Panthers will lose just five seniors after this season, but will be returning a slew of sophomores and juniors who look to make their own marks on the program under the tutelage of head coach Kyle Rhatigan.
He believes that, inch by inch, his Panthers are becoming competitive once again in a tough Front Range League.
"They have the experience from last year and they know the level it takes to compete and win games," he said. "They've really worked hard in the offseason and they worked hard in the beginning of the year. Their mindset is the biggest thing. They believe that they could and they stayed engaged in it. When they set their mind to something, they'll accomplish it."
With their fifth-straight win in the bag and a 14-6 record to boast about, the Lightning will now turn their attention to a home match against Horizon on Thursday. Boulder, now 8-13, will travel to Fairview on the same night.
"I think they feel pretty good," Legacy coach Will Rozum said. "We know we have Horizon Thursday. We've had kind of a lull in our schedule, and so we've tried to stay sharp. Now that we have Horizon and have the crossover (tournament) against the (Northern Colorado Athletics Conference) and then we have regionals, we know we're playing like all top-20 teams pretty much the rest of the season, which we're excited about and ready to attack."
