In Greek mythology there is a conflict know as the "Battle of the Titans". It was a ten year struggle between two sets of gods who were seeking dominance among the immortals. One group was led by Cronus and the other was led by Zeus. In the end of the mighty struggle Zeus and his cohorts claimed victory and with it dominance among the pantheon of Greek gods.

A similar struggle took place among humans last night on the Adair-Casey/Guthre Center volleyball court between two teams that battled for dominance among the eleven volleyball teams in the West Central Activities Conference. The outcome of this human "Battle of the Titans" would almost certainly determine the champion of the WCAC for the 2019 season, even though the teams are only half way through the conference schedule. For you see, Des Moines Christian and our Chargers are clearly the best teams in the conference. After a monumental effort, the Chargers fell to the Lions 3-1.

With a raucous student body section that numbered between seventy and seventy five cheering on their schoolmates, the four set battle began with a 25-23 win for the Chargers in which the lead changed several times. After taking an early lead, ACGC saw the Lions go in front 7-6 and maintain the lead until the Chargers retook it at 14-13. DMC went up by as many as three points at 18-15 until the home team again retook the lead at 22-21 thanks to numerous power kills by Chloe Largent. With the score 24-23, Kylie Young sealed the win with a perfect dink that extended all of the way to an undefended spot on the far end of the net.

Things began to unravel for the Chargers in set two when the Lions increased an 8-6 lead to 13-6--a rally from which the Chargers were unable to recover. DMC continued to put on the pressure and came away with 25-15 win to even the match at one set apiece.

Set three went into overtime, as each team battled unsuccessfully to dominate the other. The Chargers took an early lead until the visitors knotted the score at 9-9 and then took the lead on the next serve. ACGC trailed by as many as three points until it finally retook the lead at 22-21 with Audrey Stowe at the serve and Largent coming up with a block to score the lead point. Stowe's next serve hit the net, but fell over on the DMC side to give the Chargers a two point lead. The Lions scored the next two points to tie the score at 23. ACGC's last lead came at 24-23 before the Lions finally put the game away at 27-25. A truly titanic battle!

The final set was close throughout but the Chargers never led in falling to the Lions, 25-23. The two titans had fought an epic battle to determine who would dominate in the WCAC. The Chargers were well prepared and played with confidence. The outcome wasn't what the all of us had hoped for, but it was truly a "Battle of the Titans." And it was a pleasure to have witnessed it!

Prior to the match, Charger junior setter Audrey Stowe was honored for having scored her one thousandth career assist at the Charger Invitational last Saturday. You do us proud, Audrey. Congrats form all Charger fans!

With their victory, the class 3A Lions improved their undefeated record to 14-0, while the Chargers mark now stands at 16-3. ACGC has the rest of this week off before returning to action next week when the team travels to Madrid on Tuesday, October 1. Go Chargers!

Set scores:

DMC 23 25 27 25

ACGC 25 15 25 23

Charger statistics:

Kills Kill Eff Assts Digs Blocks Serving Aces

Stowe 0 X 41 5 4 14-16 3

Bunde 0 -.125 0 0 2 X X

Coffman 0 X 0 6 0 8-9 1

Danker 0 X 0 1 0 4-6 1

Kintz 0 X 0 2 0 5-8 0

Laabs 0 X 1 22 0 12-14 3

Largent 35 .420 0 5 3 12-12 0

McClain 1 1.000 0 0 3 X X

O'Brien 5 .333 0 0 8 X X

Young 5 .136 4 1 1 16-18 1