Connor Van Ligten
ASU Student Journalist

Fighting spirit, hard work and teamwork propel Mountain View to 8-3 record

October 15, 2019 by Connor Van Ligten, Arizona State University


Junior Brekyn Goodman fires a spike into traffic during Mountain View’s sweep of Skyline Tuesday. (Connor Van Ligten/AZPreps365)

Connor Van Ligten is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mountain View for AZPreps365.

 

There are a multitude of reasons why Mountain View is sitting at 8-3 and No. 2 in its region.

In no particular order, credit hard work, teamwork and tenacity.

“We have a huge improvement in serve receive,” said junior Ashley Reed. “Which allows us to have an offense. We’ve worked hard on serve receive and sometimes we spend entire practices on it.”

That was especially noticeable in the Toros gritty 3-0 sweep of Skyline Tuesday night.

Mountain View generated more synergy on offense and established a consistent attack throughout its victory, overwhelming the Coyotes in all three sets.

“Understanding the game has been a key asset for us,” said senior Faith Jackson. “Mentally understanding the game, and being able to understand that we’re gonna make mistakes, but be able to push through.”

Tenacity has been key for Mountain View - win or lose. The Toros spirit showed in the second set against Skyline. Toros fell behind 18-11 but rallied to win 25-21.

Earlier in the season, that type of deficit would spell doom.

However, Mountain View has continued to grow and improve in all facets of the game as the year has gone by and the recent results have shown that. 

The Toros haven’t lost a set in a regular season match since Sept. 24. They’ve looked equal parts dominant and disciplined.

“They work really hard,” said coach Clark Fleming. “We put in a lot of work and a lot of practice time, and I think it’s really shown. They’re good kids, and they encourage each other.”

Mountain View’s making a name for itself in a field with tough opponents. Fleming knows the road ahead will be difficult.

“We have a good enough region where we can’t really overlook anyone,” said Fleming. “This is probably the highest Mountain View’s been ranked in a long time, so we definitely have a target on our back.”

Ultimately, the team will be taking things one step at a time.

“We don’t want to look too far ahead,” said Reed. “We just want to focus on what our next match is, and not get distracted by the end[game].”

 

They're certainly on the right track.