The Tri-Valley Mustangs won their second straight match with a victory over the McCook Central/Montrose Fighting Cougars on Thursday, October 2nd. The Mustangs took the win in four sets by scores of 26-24, 18-25, 25-18, and 25-15.
Tri-Valley took an early 5-3 lead to start the first set. They kept the lead at 9-8 and 12-10. McCook Central/Montrose then scored three in a row to go ahead 13-12. The Mustangs responded with 5-1 run to regain the lead 17-14. They put together another 5-1 run to push the lead to 22-15. The Fighting Cougars would make one more run. They went on an 9-1 run to go in front 24-23. Tri-Valley was able to hold off the big come back and tie the set 24-24. They would then score the next two points to take the set 26-24.
The Mustangs started the second set with a 5-2 advantage. They continued to lead by three at 9-6. McCook Central/Montrose rallied to tie the score 11-11. That run gave them momentum through the rest of the set. The Fighting Cougars went ahead 16-13 and stayed in front the rest of the way. They led 21-17 before winning the second set 25-18.
McCook Central/Montrose kept that momentum to start the third set. They started with a 6-3 lead. Tri-Valley found their groove again and immediately went on a 7-2 run to go in front 10-8. The teams went back and forth, and Tri-Valley led by just a single point, 13-12. The Mustangs would slowly pull away as they worked themselves to a 23-17 lead before winning 25-18.
A quick 5-1 start to the fourth set put the Mustangs in the driver’s seat. McCook Central/Montrose cut the deficit to 6-4, but that was as close as they could get. The Mustangs went on a 7-1 run to extend the lead to 13-5. That lead grew to 20-11 as they cruised to the 25-15 win.