Mesa volleyball wins lead to title hopes
Tristan Spencer
Mesa Legend
Tania Ritko/ Mesa Legend
The No. 15 nationally ranked Mesa Community College Lady Thunderbirds Volleyball team flew away with a landslide victory against the Scottsdale Artichokes after going a mere three set. This game just reaffirms the national title hopes that the Lady T-birds have this year. This is a continuance on the already amazing week that our MCC Volleyball had. In the two games played during the past week and taking both as a win. This is a big turnaround from last season’s horrible let down. It’s fair to say now as Mesa volleyball is almost at the midpoint of the season that Coach Megan Taylor can be more than content with her team’s performance. The Thunderbirds have come into the game with a record of nine wins and only four losses. One of which, the first one was handed to Mesa by Scottsdale on Friday, August 26,2016 during an away game. The first set ended with a fight as the Artichokes were able to cause 20 errors in the T-Bird defense. However, MCC volleyball would not go allow Scottsdale to take the victory. They were able to hold strong pushing down on the offensively to win the set 25-20.Taking the first set definitely built momentum leading into the second set. Scottsdale attempted to make arrangements to accommodate the brutal attack. Only to find the same result.
The Mesa offense would not back down. #1 Kahri Harrion and #4 Paige Greenly were critical in scoring. The set ended 25-21 in favor of the T-Birds. Coming into the third set it appeared that the game was coming to a swift end. The #7, Cokie Gritus, started the set leaving it off. The flood gates opened up on the Artichokes as the rain of aces came down. Quickly MCC was up and intended to stay that way. Scottsdale attempted to come back but to no avail. The third and final set ended 25-21. One of the night’s playmakers Leah Crist; whose presence was essential in keeping the artichokes at bay. She spoke very highly of the future for the MCC Volleyball. “We all get along super well and we all play for each other. We’re determined to make MCC Volleyball number one,” said Christ. The trust and loyalty off the court truly show in the chemistry between players. The Thunderbirds are definitely on the way to the national title. However, being nationally ranked puts a target on the Lady T-birds back. Since then Mesa has played twice against Chandler-Gilbert Community College on October 5, 2016 that resulted in a 3-1 victory, and a 3-1 loss to South Mountain Community College on October 7, 2016.
