Cowboys close out regular season this week at home

The Gunnison High School volleyball team split their two games last week and will close out their regular season this week at home. 

The Cowboys opened last week at home on Thursday, Oct. 15. They hosted Moffat County for their annual PINK game and the girls got the job done, winning in three sets.

The girls won the first set 24-13, the second set 25-22 and the third set 25-20.

“Every single member of the team had some quality time on the court,” wrote head coach Shana Benson in an email to the Times. “I was very proud of how each person found a way to contribute once they got in. Our bench does such a great job staying involved, verbally and emotionally. This time, everyone was able to get some playing time.”

Maya Petrie led the team with 14 kills against Moffat County. Gianna Wickenhauser had seven and Roxie Uhrig had six. 

Petrie also led the team with four aces. Emma Bogart and Wickenhauser each had two as well. As a team the girls had an 87.5 serve completion percentage.

Addison Claus had a team-high 11 assists and Natalia Sabino was right behind her with 10; Kat Rodriguez led the team with 17 digs and Claus and Wickenhauser each had a team-leading one block.

After the game, Benson highlighted the play of Wickenhauser for reading the block better and improving her back line play, Claus for providing consistency and McKenzie Taramarcaz for her digs in her first game back from injury.

The following day, the girls and Benson made the trip to Delta for their second game of the week. The Panthers beat the Cowboys 3-1 for the second time this season. 

Gunnison won the first set 26-24, but then proceeded to lose the second set 25-21, the third set 25-14 and the fourth set 16-14.

“Their growth this season has been tremendous, and I am so proud of their progress,” wrote Benson after the Delta match. “We are still working on consistency throughout an entire match.  These girls are building a strong strategic knowledge of this game and utilizing it more and more each match.”

Petrie once again led the team with 11 kills and Uhrig was next with seven. 

Rodriguez and Wickenhauser each had two aces to lead the team. The girls had an 87.5 percent serve completion. 

Sabino had a team-leading 14 assists and Claus had 10; Rodriguez led the team with 17 digs and Wickenhauser had a team-high two total blocks.

Benson highlighted the versatility of Kaya Burnett after the match.

“I have moved her into three different positions this year and she has approached them all with the best attitude and positivity,” wrote Benson. “Her versatility is commendable.”

After splitting the two matches, the Cowboys are 8-9 overall this season and ranked 38th in 3A.

This week the Cowboys will host Middle Park (10-7) and Basalt (4-11) each on Friday, Oct. 23. They will close their season out with a tournament in Buena Vista starting on Friday, Oct. 30.