If the Ralston Valley volleyball team is fighting for respect this season, the team’s opponents are battling for a smaller goal: to win at least one game against the dominating Mustangs.
After a 3-0 dismantling of Golden on Sept. 29 at Ralston Valley High School, the Mustangs improved on their perfect season. Ralston Valley holds a 5-0 record in Class 4A Jeffco League action and 15-0 overall mark. More impressive is that Ralston Valley has lost only two games all season, with 13 wins coming in 3-0 whitewashes. The Mustangs lost a game to Thompson Valley on Sept. 9 and one game to Evergreen on Sept. 24.
Ralston Valley also has beaten Class 5A teams such as Dakota Ridge and Wheat Ridge.
“This is a team that expects to win,” Ralston Valley coach Lisa Nelson said. “We believe that on any given night, if we bring our best game, we won’t get beat.”
Against the visiting Demons, Ralston Valley left little question as to who would contend for the league’s top spot, a perch the Mustangs currently share with Summit (13-1 overall, 4-0 in league).
The Mustangs humbled Golden with a 25-7 triumph in the first game before Golden contended in the final sets. Ralston Valley won those games 25-16 and 25-17. Ralston Valley totaled 25 kills and 11 aces for the match.
With players such as Gabrielle Curtis, who led the match with nine kills, slicing the ball over the net and into the feet of Demons defenders, Golden did not challenge in the first game. The Demons trailed by as much as 12-2 before Ralston Valley pulled away to an 18-point win and a 1-0 advantage. Tricia Leger led the Mustangs with four kills and an ace in the victory.
“Our team was really intimidated because we know of their record and how good they are,” Golden team captain Connie Artica said. “At the end we really pulled through because we knew that we could do better and that we had nothing to lose.”
The Demons refused to quit and started quickly in the second set, taking advantage of several Mustangs mistakes for a 6-5 lead. A kill from Christine Casagranda tied the game at 6-6 before Ralston Valley ignited a 10-4 run. The Mustangs served aces from Eryn Kilty, Sara Euser and Leslie Moen to put the game away and win by a 25-17 score. Golden got a pair of kills from Blakelee Midyett and one from Maggie Riordan in the loss.
“It’s hard for us to stay at our level sometimes because when we’re playing slower teams we just don’t focus as well,” Curtis said. “We know we’ll win, we just give them too many points.”
The Mustangs gave up three quick points in the third set as Golden tied the score at 3-3. Ralston Valley took a 10-5 lead after a kill by Curtis, but the Demons rallied to within an 11-9 deficit before the Mustangs pulled away for the 8-point win and the match victory.
“We didn’t have much as far as expectations coming into this match,” Golden coach Jeremy Lucas said. “I just told the girls to leave it all on the court. Games like this are a learning process for us because we are going to have to be able to play with teams like Ralston Valley in the future.”
For the Mustangs, the future is now as the team establishes itself as a state contender.
“We’ve known from Day 1 that we’ve got something that is going to be hard to match,” Nelson said. “We’ve been fighting for respect and we’re just now starting to get there.”
The Mustangs will hit the road to face Jefferson at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7, in an attempt to keep their record unblemished. Golden (6-8, 3-2) has a bit of a break before its next league match. The Demons are scheduled to travel to Conifer for a 7 p.m. conference match Tuesday, Oct. 7.