Lady Cougars win opening Battle of the Drum matchup on the volleyball court

by Rhett Sifford
Sports Editor
It has been a very strong start to the 2023 high school volleyball season for the Monument Valley Lady Cougars. Coming into the past week they were 3-0 and ranked in the top spot in the 1A RPI standings.
On Tuesday, September 12 they traveled to Montezuma Creek for a matchup with their biggest rivals, the Whitehorse Lady Raiders in the first volleyball Battle of the Drum of the season.
Whitehorse came into the game with possession of the Drum by virtue of the Raider football team’s 40-6 victory over the Cougars on August 18, so the Lady Cougars were determined to take it back.
They did so with a convincing straight-sets win over their rivals. They took set one 25-20, held off a Whitehorse rally in the second for a 29-27 win, and closed out the victory with a 25-14 final in the third set.
Two nights later, on Thursday, September 14 the Lady Cougars returned home to host Green River in their second Region 19 showdown of the week.
Monument Valley came out of the gate strong, cruising to 25-18 and 25-11 wins in the opening two sets. Impressively, the Lady Pirates battled back, winning set three 25-18, then nearly forcing a fifth set. But Monument Valley held them off in the fourth for a 25-21 win.
With the wins the Lady Cougars improve to 5-0 on the season and remain in the top spot in the 1A RPI standings. They played another rivalry match on Tuesday, September 19 on the road against Monticello.
That game was played too late for the San Juan Record press deadline, so look for the result in the September 27 issue of the paper.
Following their loss to Monument Valley, Whitehorse traveled to Shiprock to take on the Northwest Lady Falcons. The Lady Raiders started strong with a 25-20 win in the first set.
But Northwest stormed back to take the next three in a row 25-13, 25-10, and 25-20, downing Whitehorse three sets to one.
The Lady Raiders dropped to 1-6 on the year and are 14th in the 1A standings. This week is light with only one game on the schedule. They’ll host the Green River Lady Pirates on Wednesday, September 20.

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