For the first time in the 2020 season, the Chisum Lady Mustangs volleyball team lost a game. The Lady Mustangs (7-1) dropped a contest at home against Quinlan Ford in straight sets by a final score of 22-25, 15-25, and 18-25.
The Lady Mustangs got off to a slow start in the first set. Chisum trailed 10-3 after three errors, which forced head coach Laura Nickerson to call a timeout, and the bleeding did stop temporarily.
Dynamic sophomore Peyton Holland smacked a kill off a nice assist from sophomore setter Carly Bell, then Bell fed fellow setter Kelsea Ball for a kill to cut the deficit to 11-5. Chisum continued to creep closer later in the match, and the Lady Mustangs pulled to within 18-14 after back-to-back kills from junior Emmy Williams. Holland followed with a kill to cut the deficit to 18-15 on the next point.
Then, a Williams kill, a Holland ace, and another kill from Williams completely erased Quinlan Ford’s lead with the teams deadlocked at 19-all. The visitors pulled away late for the three-point win in the third set, and Chisum unfortunately could not close the gap in the final two sets.
“Lack of communication caused a lot of miscues and resulted in balls hitting the floor, and that normally hasn’t happened,” Nickerson said. “That led to us second-guessing and being totally out of sync.”
Ball led Chisum with 4 kills, 11 assists, 11 digs, and 1 ace, while Holland hammered 5 kills to go with 3 aces and 7 digs. Emmy Williams added 6 kills, 1 ace, and 4 digs, while Bell recorded 1 kill, 10 assists, and 5 digs. Senior libero Kaci Williams contributed with 11 digs and 3 kills, while Chloe Prestridge compiled 5 kills, 4 blocks, and 5 digs.
In order to get back in the win column, Nickerson looks to address the team and its confidence levels to produce more quality volleyball.
“Our offense needs to execute better,” Nickerson said. “We can not give teams points by hitting the ball out or missing serves. We need to play with confidence and not get in panic mode. We must stay in control of the whole game in order to be successful.”
The Lady Mustangs open district play at 4:30 p.m. Friday at home against Commerce.
