By Alex Rea

To kick start the 2014 girls volleyball season, the Wheat Ridge Farmers took on the Alameda Pirates for a highly competitive match.

The Farmers endured extreme preparation for the match and new season, which included five months of open gym practice. When asked about preparation junior Ella Davies said, “We are pretty prepared, mostly because we are a family, like never before. We also have been playing games to gain chemistry with each other.”

The players struggled early and often to fight off the Pirates in the first of a five game set . The Pirates slipped away with a 25-21 win to take the series lead.  The Farmers regrouped quickly and won the next two games, but there were no giveaways, 25-22 followed by a 25-23 victory helped the girls take control. There was no break after that; the Farmers took a fast lead in game 4.  The Farmers got up early; they needed one last push to put the Pirates away for the night, but on the opposing side of the court, the Pirates rallied. The score started to even out as time progressed; it didn’t take long for the Farmers to create a rally of their own. In the fourth set, the Farmers slipped past the Pirates, that led to a series win for Wheat Ridge and an overall winning sweep by junior varsity and level three.

As Davies said, volleyball requires chemistry; everyone has a specific role and they still all work towards the same goal, getting the ball over the net. Sophomore Shay Hannaway knows her role on varsity pretty well, “ I have to work hard to show the rest of the team, I deserve to be on varsity.”

Coach Heather Champlin thought the girls didn’t play their greatest, but says they finally came  together in the end to close it out. “Today was not their best performance’ it’s the first game of the season, but we still have a lot to work on,” said Champlin. “We definitely need to work on earning more points, as far as getting kills and eliminating errors that take points away from the opponent,” Champlin added about preparation for the next game, and rest of the season.

Wheat Ridge has plenty of time to improve since their first win at Alameda. The Farmers’ next opponents are Green Mountain, Arrupe Jesuit, and big rival Valor Christian,  who are currently rated in the top ten teams in 4A Volleyball.