'Stangs overcome slow start

It took a while, but Mullen volleyball responded.

The Mustangs, lethargic and relatively passive in the first game on Tuesday, quickly turned it around, swept the next three games and dispatched of visiting Arvada West 19-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-12 at Hutchison Fieldhouse.

The nonleague victory pushed Mullen to 3-0.

A slow start was inexplicable, Mustangs head coach Jeff Oliver agreed, but said he was happy his team played through it.

“We really didn’t come out on the level we could play at and I don’t know why that was,” the coach said. “Maybe we were looking at playing at (parochial-rival) Regis (Jesuit) on Thursday.”

Minus three players – Molly Zink was ill; Sophie Post (concussion) may see her first action Thursday; and Margaret Thompson is trying to deal with a sprained ankle – Mullen was handled by the Class 5A Wildcats (1-2) in the first game before taking command.

It was is they flipped a switch. Behind the likes of Katie Hammond, Macy Schiefelbein and Cece Lloyd, Mullen had significant surges over the next three games, including winning six straight points in the middle of the fourth game, to remain undefeated.

“I think we started off really, really quiet and came out just like we won,” Hammond said. “We weren’t hustling for every ball and we were slow, and then in the second set we came out and coach kind of lit a fire under our butts.”

No getting around it, the match at Regis Jesuit in Aurora (6 p.m.) crept into more than one thought process … but the Mustangs were able to overcome it.

“It’s a big deal, absolutely,” Oliver said. “Hopefully, we’ll come out ready to play that match. We can play great volleyball.”

Said Hammond: “It’s a huge deal for us.”