Monument Valley played hard, but found it difficult to beat Snowflake in the semifinals of the Kayenta Township Lady Mustangs volleyball invitational in Kayenta.

Monument Valley chalked up three victories and lost two matches during the 13-team invitational.

Teams competing in Pool A were St. Johns, Page, Chinle, St. Michael, Tuba City and host Monument Valley.

Pool B consisted of Snowflake, Pinon, Winslow, Window Rock, Hopi, Shiprock, New Mexico and Kanab, Utah.

Monument Valley dropped a pair of matches to Snowflake.

Snowflake defeated Monument Valley, 18-25, 25-18 and 6-15 in the second round.

"We didn't start off strong, but as the second set came around, we did better, but not enough for the third set," said Monument Valley head coach Rennell Gilmore.

Snowflake beat the Lady Mustangs in three sets, 28-26, 19-25 and 8-15 in the semifinals.

"Both teams started off strong for both sets, but (we) had a hard time keeping our momentum in the third set," Gilmore said.

Tuba City defeated Snowflake for the tournament championship.

Monument Valley posted a 2-0 win over Window Rock, 25-20 and 25-17, in the first match.

"We took awhile to get started, but we played well and won in two sets," Gilmore stated.

After losing to Snowflake the first time, Monument Valley rebounded with a 2-0 win over Page, 25-22 and 25-20.

"We played Page in the regular season and we lost in four, so we had to take care of business," Gilmore said. "The team played well from the beginning to the end."

To reach the tournament semifinals, Monument Valley defeated Kanab, Utah, 25-17 and 25-20.

"The game went well and everyone got a chance to play," Gilmore said.