LA JARA – After a tough three-set loss to second-ranked Alamosa last Tuesday, the seventh-ranked Centauri High School volleyball team got its season going in the right direction after wins at Pueblo East on Friday and Pagosa Springs at home on Saturday.

The Pagosa Springs scores were 25-17, 25-3 and 25-15.

“It’s pretty good to get back on the winning side of things,” said Centauri coach Eddie Chacon. “On Friday, we went to Pueblo East and played a tough five-set match. We were able to run some different line-ups and put some kids into position we haven’t consistently put them in. The kids came in today and we wanted them to show up because we got home really late on Friday night and you sometimes worry when you have a late night and you wonder which team is going to show up. But we’ve been talking about creating culture for a state championship team and that’s what we have to do. Just grind, grind, grind and keep working hard.”

The Falcons scored the first point of the first set, but the Pirates tied the score. Centauri then went on a 10-4 run to go in front at 11-5.

Pagosa got three straight kills from Lexi Campbell to close within 11-8. The Pirates got as close as 13-10 before the Falcons had a 6-1 rally to stretch their lead to 19-11.

Pagosa got as close as 21-16, but Centauri scored four of the final five points to take a 25-17 win.

The Falcons got off to a hot start in the second set by scoring the first 13 points. Joselyn McCarroll had three service aces in the run.

After a brief Pagosa side out, the Falcons scored eight straight points for a 21-1 lead. The Pirates had another brief side but Centauri scored four of the final five points to take the set by a score of 25-3.

The Falcons opened the third set with the first point, but Pagosa scored twice to take its only lead of the match. Kenadie Wilfong then ran off three straight aces to help Centauri take a 5-2 lead.

Pagosa closed to within an 8-6 deficit, but Centauri increased the lead to 10-6. The Pirates answered with two straight points, but the Falcons had a 5-1 rally to push their advantage to 15-9.

Pagosa narrowed the lead to 15-12, however, Centauri scored 10 of the final 13 points for a 25-15 win.

Kenadie Wilfong lead the Centauri offense with 24 assists. Rylie McCarroll was the kills leader with nine, followed by Kynlei Curtis with seven, and Mikasa Gilleland, Kimbry Wilfong and Analynn Dwyer each with five.

The Falcons served up 12 aces and were led by Kenadie Wilfong with five and Joselyn McCarroll with four.

Centauri (8-3, 1-1) will resume league play with a road trip to Bayfield on Friday and to Montezuma-Cortez on Saturday.

“We’re looking forward to that,” Chacon said. “Terene Foutz over in Bayfield always has those kids playing tough. We got to see them play in person over at the Lewis-Palmer tournament and we like some of our matchups against them. This league is pretty tough this year, so hopefully we go in there and just grind. Cortez has some good wins under their belt and it’s a long trip to that far southwest corner could be kind of long. But the girls are motivated. I always told them that can come out after a loss, especially after a tough opponent like Alamosa. We can either we’re going to be content with that or we’re going to figure out how we get back into our groove and work hard. They’ve been working hard and it’s a testament to the hard work they’re doing and the culture they’re trying to build here with this program. I’m proud of them.”