Lady Spartans rally to nip Tigers
By Dan Karpiel
The Surveyor
Even though they have just barely begun the 2015 season, the Berthoud High School (BHS) volleyball team is on its way to earning the moniker “the cardiac Spartans.” Berthoud’s first two non-tournament matches of the year – at Resurrection Christian on Sept. 3 and on their home floor on Sept. 8 – were about as thrilling as they get.
The Lady Spartans lost 3-2 (20-25, 21-25, 25-22, 26-24, 19-21) against Resurrection but won 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-20, 28-26, 16-14) at BHS over Tri-Valley Conference rival Erie. Their home-opener against the Tigers was thrilling, not just in that the Lady Spartans came back from a 2-0 set deficit to win but that they trailed, at times by significant margins, in two of the three sets they ultimately won.
Asked after the win over Erie if these kind of nail-biting performances are indicative of how Berthoud volleyball is going to play this season, Head Coach Daisha Agho said with an energetic laugh, “I hope not, because my heart isn’t going to be able to take it.”
Taking a more serious tone, Agho noted, “We don’t have any of the cohesiveness yet on the court … and a lot of that goes with communication; we have to know our jobs on the court and we’re not quite there yet.”
The seeds for the come-from-behind win were planted in the first two sets, both won by Erie, but saw Berthoud rally from deficits ranging from five to 10 points. A serving error by Berthoud at the end of set one gave the Tigers their 25th point and in the next set they held off a run that saw the Lady Spartans score nine of 11 points to quickly reduce a commanding 20-10 Erie lead to just 22-19.
“I think maybe sometimes we assume it’s going to be easy and then we realize we’ve really got to pick up our game, and that’s when we start fighting,” said setter Jessa Megenhardt, who recorded 49 assists in the match. “It’s all mentality; it’s all in our heads.”
Faced with a 6-3 deficit in set three, Berthoud took control, attacking and defending as well as they had all night, taking a 13-7 lead, one they would not relinquish for the remainder of the set.
The Lady Tigers had some fight left, however, and quickly opened up with a 7-1 lead that extended to 11-4 in the fourth set. Yet, as they had all evening, the Lady Spartans went on a run to score seven consecutive points, knotting the score at 11.
Agho noted that when Berthoud gets behind, “They take the pressure off themselves and they just want to go out and play then. I told them they’re the comeback queens because all of a sudden there’s no pressure and they think ‘we’re down 1-7 now no one expects us to win,’ so the pressure is off.”
The teams traded points throughout the remainder of the fourth set. Berthoud ultimately won when senior Emily Trujillo scored with an offensive block to give the Lady Spartans the 28-26 win, sending the match to a decisive fifth set.
After taking an 8-3 lead, Berthoud allowed Erie some life as the visitors scored four consecutive points to get to within one. The Tigers tied the game at 11 and again at 14, but an attack by Julie Ward, her 20th kill on the night, clinched the set and with it the match for the Lady Spartans.
Megenhardt believes the hard-fought victory will be helpful for Berthoud as the season progresses.
“I think it will help us know that no matter how much we’re down we can come back and we can win,” she said. “It really helped us, we were really together as a team, we didn’t give up on each other and that’s really big.”
Berthoud (3-3, 1-0 TVC) will go back on the road for their next game, a TVC duel with Skyline (1-4, 0-1) on Sept. 10 before returning to the BHS gym for conference matches with Mead and Roosevelt on Sept. 15 and 17, respectively.
- October, 15 2015
Berthoud volleyball serves up two str...
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor Berthoud’s Shay Pierick serves for the...
- September, 09 2022
Eagles ground Spartan volleyball
While there is no such thing as a good loss, there is often more to...
- November, 05 2015
Lady Spartans win at Golden, host reg...
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor It came as no surprise to Berthoud High School head...
- June, 01 2017
BHS sports 2016-17 year in review
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor Jessa Megenhardt —Surveyor female athlete of...
- August, 26 2014
Volleyball: Small squad expects big r...
By Paula Megenhardt The Surveyor Seniors Madi White, Hannah Atkinson, and...
- October, 19 2017
Lady Spartans sweep Roosevelt
By Dan Karpiel The Surveyor It takes a special team to win a championship. Not...
- Spring training begins for Spartan ba...
- Berthoud “Bombers” win championship i...
- Spartan baseball undefeated in April
- Boys basketball 13-10 season ends in ...
- Spartan C-team sees big success
- Spartans notch well-deserved win in s...
- Spartan golf team has enormous partic...
- Berthoud golfers win R2J Championship
- Berthoud golf team begins season swing
- Boys soccer wins in season opener
- Spartan soccer ends season on a high ...
- Berthoud soccer squad seeing signific...
- Bothun leads Spartans to second place...
- Spartans send ten runners to state cr...
- Clark wins Patriot League Cross Count...
- The 12-team playoff cannot come soon ...
- Spartans lose 14-13 in controversial ...
- Berthoud High School football game wi...
- Lady Spartans fall to Jefferson Acade...
- Thompson Valley tramples Lady Spartan...
- Berthoud girls stand out in All-Star ...
- Tychsen leads Lady Spartans to first ...
- Top five finish for girls golf
- Lady Spartan golfers battle for state...
- Spartans fall to Frederick in state s...
- Spartan softball comes back against N...
- Softball finishes regular season 20-3
- Back in the water and back winning
- Spartan swimmers set new school recor...
- Berthoud swimmers shine in Break the ...
- Berthoud boys head to state tennis to...
- Berthoud sending two lines to state c...
- Lady Spartans earn second place at re...
- Spartans steal the show at Roosevelt ...
- Brooke Nelsen leaps over 30-year scho...
- Half-mile state champion Williams ret...
Obituary – Shirley French
Community NewsBHS places third in 4A Colorado Knowledge Bowl 2024
Community NewsRide along with Berthoud’s snowplow drivers
Community NewsSpartans steal the show at Roosevelt High School
Community NewsSurveyor launches Berthoud Beat podcast
Local News
COMMUNITY CALENDAR:
Community Calendar – add an eventHomestead Fine Art Gallery First Fridays OPEN HOUSE
05 Apr 4:00 PM - 7:00 PMHomestead Fine Art Gallery First Fridays OPEN HOUSE
03 May 4:00 PM - 7:00 PMHomestead Fine Art Gallery First Fridays OPEN HOUSE
07 Jun 4:00 PM - 7:00 PMHomestead Fine Art Gallery First Fridays OPEN HOUSE
05 Jul 4:00 PM - 7:00 PMHomestead Fine Art Gallery First Fridays OPEN HOUSE
02 Aug 4:00 PM - 7:00 PMHomestead Fine Art Gallery First Fridays OPEN HOUSE
06 Sep 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM