After falling behind two sets to one, Skyridge came storming back to take down Mountain Ridge in a 5-set thriller 25-17, 25-27, 22-25, 25-22, 17-15 on Thursday night.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our team. I think we fought hard. That’s a good team on the other side. They are a good coached team and they played well,” said Skyridge head coach Siale Hifo.
“We’ve been working on emptying the tank with our team and just knowing that no matter what happens at the end of the game, we want to walk away with everyone giving it their all. I challenged them to do that, and I feel like they did that in every way.”
After taking the opening set, Skyridge saw a dip in the quality of its service game, which allowed Mountain Ridge to take control and seize momentum in the following two sets.
Hifo knew that if her team was going to be able to come from behind and beat a strong team like Mountain Ridge, it couldn’t just be about one player.
“We were kind of figuring out the lineup a little bit, and I think our people on the bench were ready to come in and make a difference, and that helps a ton,” Hifo said.
“I’m really proud of them, because it’s hard to go down two sets and knowing that the next set could be the deal breaker. We were able to just stay in the moment, play one point at a time and I think that’s a good thing to have.”
While the victory feels good in the moment, it is still very early in the season and Skyridge will need to continue to improve and not get complacent if it wants to stay on top throughout the season.
“This game showed us what we need to do in our practice agenda tomorrow, but it does give us a little confidence boost,” Hifo said. “We have a lot to work on moving forward. We need to work on our connection with our middles and setters and also our serves.”