The gymnasium at Coconino High School exploded with ear-bursting cheers as the visiting Eagles from Flagstaff High School beat the rival Panthers in three sets during their first volleyball match-up of the season. The full crowd that showed up Tuesday evening were yelling encouragement toward their players, and also just yelling at each other.
The Flagstaff High’s girl’s varsity volleyball team beat the Panthers 18–25, 17–25 and 7–25, because of the Eagles’ preparation, both physically and mentally. “You always have to be prepared, mentally, for a rivalry game,” said Eagles’ coach Beth Haglin. “They can surprise you sometimes.”
The first set was the high point for the Panthers, who have three wins on the season. At this point the Panther fans actually had something to cheer about. From there, however, it went downhill. “We started really strong,” said Panther coach Angela Vargas. “But when the wheel falls off, it falls off.”
By the end of the second stanza the two rival crowds really got going. The Eagles’ crowd was yelling “Scoreboard!” while the Panther’s crowd retaliated, “Wait til football!” Both crowds seemed oblivious to the volleyball game they came to see.
“We always have a bunch of fans coming out,” said Eagles’ middle-blocker Izzy Gosar. “It always helps pump us up.”
While it may pump the players up, it can also serve as a big emotional distraction. “We just have to keep our emotions in check,” said Haglin. “It wasn’t until we settled down that we started playing our ball, and it all went well from there.”
Keeping emotions in check is one of the keys to success for the Eagles. “The most important thing I try to teach is staying a team,” said Haglin. “We try to stay focused on a common goal and that goal right now is playing the last game of the season.”
This practice has been perfected by the Eagles, who seemingly appear to be invulnerable to the rival crowds’ taunting; laying it on Panthers who were not quite as impervious to the noise. Having quite a few mistakes in the last set seemed to contribute to Coconino’s communication problems. “All the noise and hype can create mistakes,” said Vargas. “In the last game we just started creating tentative errors with some untimely mental breakdowns.”
Not all is as bad as it seems, according to Vargas, who only had praise for her players and their playing abilities. “I still think we have one of the best defenses,” said Vargas. “This first game we played was the best first game we have played all year. We are looking forward to the next match-up.”
The Eagles are very excited for their next Coconino match-up, but this time it will be on their home court. “It will get better,” said Haglin, looking toward the lingering sea of Eagle green and white flooding the court. “On our home court, it will always get better.”
The next Coconino and Flagstaff match-up is October 27, at 6 p.m. in the Flagstaff High School gym.
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