There are roughly three weeks left in the regular season for girls' volleyball.
This is the point in the season where teams start to make their moves and separate themselves from the pack. In the South-Central League, the race for the top spot in the league is close with Pueblo County on top and Pueblo Central in second place.
The two teams battled it out on the court Tuesday night, and County was able to come away with a 3-0 win to extend its lead in the S-CL.
More: 'This is what hard work does:' Pueblo Central handles Pueblo Centennial in 74th Bell Game
Hornets get past Wildcats
“We had some really high-energy moments and then we had some moments that caught us flat-footed,” said Hornets Head Coach Vanessa Clementi.
This game was interesting from the start. The Hornets would get out to an early lead but allowed the Wildcats to hang around constantly in the early goings of this game. Eventually, in the first set, the Hornets were able to pull away from the Wildcats and earn the 25-16 set to go up 1-0.
In the second set, the Hornets and the Wildcats showed why they were the top two teams in the S-CL. The set would be close all the way to the end when the Hornets took the lead late in the set to win it 25-20.
“There are things that we're going to go back into the gym and work on in practice,” Clementi said. “We have to really put away games and that's kind of been our downfall this season is just that killer instinct putting away the game. So, I think that's going to be our main focus from here on out is how do we execute the game from start to finish.”
The Hornets were able to put this game away in their last and final set, although it was eerily similar to the first set. The Hornets got out to a huge lead, only to allow the Wildcats to get back in the game. Eventually, the Hornets made enough stops and capitalized on some good hitting to take the lead and the set, 25-17, and make it a clean 3-0 match for the Hornets.
“Every game is important, every SCL game is super important to us, so we go into every one of these games with the intention of just getting it done right,” Clementi said. “We don't want to take our time with it. We just want to get in and get out. But a win is a win regardless, and an SCL win is even sweeter.”
Pueblo County moves to 12-3 on the season and is 3-0 in S-CL play. They are back in action on Thursday on the road against Pueblo East.
More Pueblo Volleyball action
Despite the loss, Pueblo Central is still in second place in the S-CL with a 2-2 record overall and are poised to have a big impact on the rest of the season.
Pueblo East is right behind Central in the standings and is growing more and more confident with each game, including their 3-0 win over Pueblo Centennial.
Pueblo Centennial is locked in with Pueblo East for the third spot in the league with a 1-1 record. They are looking to bounce back this week with their next game against County.
Pueblo South has struggled in league play thus far but is still battling strong. They have yet to win a game yet in the league but have another shot at it this week against Central.
Pueblo West is sitting on top of their league after remaining unbeaten in the last ten games of the regular season. They still have some tough opponents ahead of them including Liberty and Vista Ridge this week.
The Rye Thunderbolts have been strong this season and sit in second place in their league with their only loss coming to the top-seeded Swink. They have a chance at vengeance against them in two weeks.
The Spartans of Swallows Charter Academy have struggled in the past few games since reaching their league schedule. They sit in fifth place overall in their league after losing recently to Hoehne.
The Scorpions of Dolores Huerta have had a rough stretch this season, having not won a game since early September. They are battling hard but are going up against some tough opponents.
More: Pueblo area volleyball: Central and Centennial battle it out
Standings for Pueblo girls' volleyball
(Standings are through Oct. 2)
2A Santa Fe
- Rye High School 8-4 (4-1)
- Swallows Charter 9-4 (3-4)
2A Black Forest
4A South Central
- Pueblo County 12-3 (3-0)
- Pueblo Central 8-5 (2-2)
- Pueblo East 5-3 (1-1)
- Pueblo Centennial 3-5 (1-1)
- Pueblo South 3-12 (0-3)
5A CSML
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Hornets fly by Wildcats to take control of South-Central League standings
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