CMB outlasts Colfax-Mingo

MAXWELL — Collins-Maxwell/Baxter saw the result as a return to the win column. Colfax-Mingo viewed it as continued improvement.

The Raiders defeated the visiting Tigerhawks Tuesday on a night opposing head coaches exited the gym with a seemingly equal sense of accomplishment.

CMB won in straight sets, 25-21, 25-14, 25-12. The teams’ play shadowed one another. The Raiders won the first set with “sluggish” play as described by head coach Scott Ranck and despite what Colfax-Mingo head coach Michelle Grant said was some of the best defense she’s seen from her team.

CMB then used substantial runs in the next two sets — two five-point runs in the second set and an 8-0 run in the third — as Colfax-Mingo’s confidence waned to sieze the win.

“How we responded in games two and three” was what Ranck said pleased him the most in the victory.

“We were just trying too hard I think (in the first set). Like I said, it’s kind of a rival and they get up for that. They were just trying too hard,” Ranck said. “I went out and talked to them between games and said, just settle down. Let the game come to you, and we started passing much better and setting it up and getting some nice hits.”

The Raiders won for the second time in its last three matches after losing to Class 3A fifth ranked Nevada on Sept. 16.

CMB totalled 17 kills and seven aces, the fewest of each the Raiders have recorded in their three wins, as Ranck’s squad frequently benefitted from Colfax-Mingo’s hitting errors Tuesday night.

Payge Jurgens led the Raiders with six kills and Toni Spencer, whose strong serving in the third set helped CMB pull away during its 8-0 run, had a team-high three aces.

“At first, we didn’t come together as a team,” said Jurgens, who spiked the ball over the net for the winning point in the second set. “Then towards the end, we were just all together, worked together, had great passes, great sets, great hits. Everything was working.”

Following her team’s second non-tournament match of the season, Grant was upbeat and impressed with her team’s performance despite the defeat. She specifically praised the team’s defense in the first set.

“My exact words (to the girls were), this was the game we needed,” Grant said. “We didn’t win, but we played so well in that first set and we kind of slowly let it taper off because we slowly got a little down on ourselves.”

“Our defense was great, so we don’t have to work on simple things like passing to the setter,” Grant continued. “Now we can go into practice and work on more complicated things: reading the hitter, reading the ball, putting the ball down hitting. I was impressed. I thought we played very well. It’s unfortunate we didn’t win, but I saw huge improvements tonight over other nights.”

Colfax-Mingo, playing with a starting lineup of four underclassmen, remained within striking distance in the first set until CMB, playing with all upperclassmen in its starting lineup, rattled off five unanswered points to take control.

No stats were available for the Tigerhawks, but the team struggled throughout offensively with hitting errors.

“We talked about getting more excited, but it’s hard to be excited when we’re not playing well, not doing well,” Grant said. “So that was what I felt was that we were excited and the first set went really well ... It’s harder to be excited when we keep getting in the net, like in that second set when things don’t go our way.

“It’s frustrating to go in there (the locker room) and say you did a really good job and you lost, you lost 3-0, but there are so many things we can take from this to keep going.”

Contact Sports Writer Ben Schuff at (641) 792-3121 Ext. 6536 or at bschuff@newtondailynews.com.