Legend’s boys volleyball team suffered through another learning lesson on April 27 in a 3-2 loss to Regis Jesuit in a Continental League match.
It was the third straight loss for the Titans which started the season with nine wins in a row.
“This will kind of give us the kick we need to go fight the losses we’ve had in the regular season and to Regis,” said senior Paxton Wright who had 16 kills in the setback to Regis. “It didn’t go our way against Regis. But I feel pretty confident. I know we’ve had some bumps in the road but it is part of the learning process and I believe this team has what it takes to compete at a high level.”
Against Regis, the Titans won the first set 26-24, but Regis came back to take the second and third sets by the scores of 25-22 and 25-23. Legend won the fourth set, 25-18.
In the 15-point fifth set, Legend fell behind 1-5 and 7-11 but pulled to within 13-14. The Rangers, however, won two consecutive points to capture the decisive set and the match.
“What it comes down to the fifth set it is races to five, eight, to ten,” said Legend Coach Will McPhee. “So when you fall behind in those races you are playing catch up the entire time.
“At one point we had three sophomores on the floor and one of my middies has been playing volleyball for four months so you see the growth in those kids. It’s encouraging but you keep looking at it and say we’ve got more to do.”
Legend, 18th in the CHSAA seeding index, is now 14-8 for the season while Regis, 26th in the seeding standings, is also 14-8.
“We’ve got some young kids on the floor right now and getting them the battle scars is great in games and see how they respond to things like that,” added McPhee. “These types of losses will hopefully do these younger kids well and the team well. You always learn more from losing than you do from winning.”
“We’ve been learning a lot recently, especially for the younger kids and they really do need to see this kind of game and feel the pressure and live through these types of matches,” McPhee continued. “So the next time they see it, the pressure is a little less and they have the experience and that scar tissue.”
Josh Norman led the Titans against Regis with 19 kills and 17 digs. James Titterington had 21 assists but Davis Roach, who was moved from setter up front to the right side in the third set, drew praise from McPhee.
“He’s been setting for us all year and set for us the first two sets and I decided to make the switch just for switching sakes and give him something new,” he said. “I think he had one hitting error the entire evening after he was moved to the right side.”
Callen Wolf led Regis with 17 kills while Gabe Sullivan had 15 digs and 51 assists for the Raiders.
“I’m extremely confident in the kids’ ability to just be kids, have short memories and just go to the next,” said McPhee. “Just getting through the season and getting to the postseason and then we can start a brand new season. That’s really the hope, we get into districts and that is sort of a new sort of spark.”
Twenty-four teams will qualify for the regionals which must be completed by May 4. The state tournament is set for May 9-11 at Overland High School.
Defending state champion Discovery Canyon, a co-team from Colorado Springs, is first in the CHSAA seeding standings followed by Thornton, Mountain Vista, Eaglecrest and Littleton Public Schools.