High school girls volleyball: Mountain Ridge comes from behind to defeat Corner Canyon

Mountain Ridge continued its dominant ways on Tuesday, keeping its perfect home record intact by defeating Corner Canyon in four sets 23-25, 25-21, 25-16 and 25-14.

Mountain Ridge got off to a sluggish start by allowing the visitors to get out to a quick 6-2 lead out of the gate.

But with Corner Canyon up 18-15 late in the set, Mountain Ridge went on a quick 6-0 run to grab their first lead of the game at 21-18. The run by the home side forced Corner Canyon to call a timeout.

Adjustments made by Corner Canyon coming out of the timeout proved to be fruitful as they stopped the bleeding long enough to take the opening set.

As the game went on, Mountain Ridge settled in and began to take a more aggressive approach, especially behind the service line.

“We talked about the errors on our side and what we can control. I also think we played it a little safe on the service line but after the first set, I feel like we started getting a little more aggressive. I just told them to keep serving and serve aggressively. The lineup didn’t change at all it was just all about getting the girls to start serving aggressively and with more confidence,” said Mountain Ridge head coach Bryan Nicholson.

After tying the match up at one set a piece, Mountain Ridge continued to hold on the momentum and went on numerous mini runs in the third set, getting key plays from role players who made the best out of their opportunity.

Nicholson knows that, while he has some standout outside hitters on the team, they need to get contributions from all areas if they want to see any success come playoff time.

“We got some really good productivity out of some girls that don’t normally get a lot of attempts. Everyone knows we have some really big outside hitters but the other girls really contributed and that’s a really good balance for us. We need to have laser focused practices. We want to peak at the right time and we know that we aren’t exactly playing our best volleyball right now but it’s trending that way,” said Nicholson.

Now in complete control of the match, Mountain Ridge had no problem finishing off Mountain Ridge, getting out to a 10-3 lead in the final set and ultimately comfortably grabbing the victory, with Addyson Cook ending the game in emphatic fashion with a spike and kill at the net.

It was a pivotal and important win for Mountain Ridge, who now finds itself tied at the top of region with Corner Canyon. With the win, the team improved its current win streak to 5-0.

“We haven’t lost at home yet, so it was important for us to continue to protect our home court, which has been a big focus for us. It is really important for us to give ourselves at least a chance of gaining a share of the region title and that is one of our big goals,” Nicholson said.