Niwot drops final league match to Longmont

On Oct. 24, the Niwot volleyball team closed out Northern League play for 2019 with a three-set loss to the Longmont Trojans (11-25, 22-25, 17-25) in a match head coach Daisha Agho called "frustrating."

"I'm disappointed that we weren't able to come out with the usual fire we usually have, and the excitement we usually have. They played scared tonight, and I'm not sure why...they were very uncharacteristic tonight and not at all like my Cougars."

Niwot struggled on both offense and defense until midway through the second set, when they nearly pulled off a comeback win, sparked by timely kills from Mackenzie Demmel and Hannah Waldron. That seemed to give the Cougars momentum heading into the third set, but it was quickly depleted, again much to Agho's frustration.

"We talked strategy, and they were finding those spots, and in the second set they were starting to see it and figure it out a little more. We were pushing on the throttle and getting better, but then all of a sudden, something got into our head, and we fell off again."

There were some bright spots for the Cougars, including the play of Demmel and freshman Waldron, who combined for 10 kills with five apiece. Junior Natasha Terekhova had 11 kills on the night, while sophomore Zoe Gibbs had six kills and four blocks.

With the loss, Niwot moved to 8-10 on the year, with all eight wins in the Northern League. Niwot wraps up the 2019 season on Oct. 31 at Holy Family.

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