In a game closer than the final score suggested, Stansbury took down Grantsville in Region 11 volleyball play 3-1 on Tuesday.
“We just stayed steady,” said SHS head coach Melissa Flint. “We actually have worked a lot on our hitters.”
In the first set, Grantsville jumped out to a 9-1 lead thanks to a pair of kills by middle Natasha Landon and senior Mandy Wilson’s service game.
Wilson served 18 points in the match.
The Stallions looked frustrated with the deficit and did not land any hits on the court, causing head coach Melissa Flint to call timeout to talk things over.
Junior outside hitter Sarah Sandberg gave the Cowboys their biggest lead of the set at 11 when she made it 13-2 on a kill over the Stansbury block.
Grantsville’s defense was on point in the first set, giving Wilson excellent passes to set up Sandberg’s hitting game. Libero Angel Cloward had 25 digs and Wilson had 28 assists.
Grantsville won the first set 25-17.
“Sarah did really well to adjust her shots,” Bleazard said.
Sandberg finished with 17 kills.
Stansbury’s Tiffany Robbins had back-to-back hits attacking Sandberg to open the second set, and the Grantsville star couldn’t handle the second hit, giving the Stallions a 1-0 lead early.
Robbins finished with 15 kills in the match.
Stansbury outside hitter Katrina Flint helped the Stallions to an 8-2 lead with kills up the line on either side of a Grantsville timeout, and Sandberg hit into blocks on back-to-back hits to give SHS a 10-2 lead, their largest of the set.
Grantsville came back after a few Stansbury errors and an ace by senior libero Alivia McCluskey to make it 11-8, and Haskell had a kill off the Stallion block a few rallies later to make it 13-12 Stansbury.
Stansbury’s hitters came alive from there, coaxing their shots to fall in bounds. The Stallions won the set when a set slipped through Wilson’s hands, 25-16.
The third set was the most even of the four: neither side led by more than four. Both Sandberg and Flint mixed finesse into their hitting game with tips and roll shots to earn kills, and Stansbury came back late to steal the set, 2-1.
Flint finished with 13 kills.
The Stallions took an early lead in the fourth set behind a pair of Robbins kills to make it 5-0, then 8-1 after Sandberg hit into the net from the left side. The Cowboys looked like they were tiring in the final stanza and Stansbury cruised to a 25-16 set win.
The Stallions won 3-1, but the games were much more competitive than the final score showed.
“We’re getting there,” Bleazard said. “People now see us as a threat.”