The Maple Mountain Golden Eagles improved their current win streak to four with a satisfying 4-set victory over Corner Canyon Thursday night, 27-25, 13-25, 25-20, 25-13.
This season, the Golden Eagles have been focused on responding in positive ways when things are going well for them, and also when they might be struggling.
Thursday’s match had both for Maple Mountain.
After a back-and-forth first set, the Golden Eagles were able to find a way to finish it strong and grab the early momentum in the match.
But Corner Canyon responded in a big way, constantly attacking the net and going on a 14-6 run to even things up at a set apiece.
“The second set was kind of a blowout,” said Maple Mountain head coach Napoleon Galang. “We just talked in the huddle that we don’t need to do anything special. We are a good serving team, a good passing team and just an overall good offensive team.
“We talked about just staying calm when the other team was playing well. Going into the third set, we just played Maple Mountain volleyball, which is great serving, great passing and controlling the court.”
While Corner Canyon kept the third and fourth sets tight, the victory was never really in question after the second set for Maple Mountain, which had an answer every time Corner Canyon looked to go on a run.
“Corner Canyon is such a big, tough team,” Galang said. “We’ve been talking a lot this season about responding in moments that are going well and responding in moments that are going bad.
“With this team that we’re defining this year, I think they did that. We have a lot of pieces and we’re grinding our way to every win and responding every step of the way.”
If Maple Mountain wants to have continued success as the season goes on, Galang knows his team needs to continue to work on many aspects of its game, specifically offensively.
“I’d like to see us get more consistent with some first touches and keep working through what happens if we don’t,” Galang said.
“As the season progresses, we’re just going to continue building on our service game and our passing.”
With the win, Maple Mountain moves to 9-1 overall, while Corner Canyon falls to 6-2.