Preseason #1 Kit Carson made an early statement, cruising to a 3-0 record in the Brush tournament last Saturday. Two of those wins came against top 5 squads, #3 Prairie and #5 Weldon Valley. The Wildcats, who also defeated the 3A hosts, will be home on Thursday against 2A Burlington and Friday against Idalia. Last season, Kit Carson swept both of those opponents on the road.
The defending champion, #2 Fleming, opens its season on the road against #5 Weldon Valley on Thursday. The Wildcats won three of four meetings with the Warriors last year, including both regular season match-ups. Fleming earned a 3-2 victory in the season opener at home and followed that with a 3-1 win later in the year in Weldona. The Warriors took a 3-0 sweep over the Wildcats en route to a district title, but when the two rivals met at state, it was all Fleming, 3-0.
Weldon Valley had a tough run in the Brush tournament, dropping two of three matches. Jerry Spooner’s squad took down the hosts, 2-0, with a 27-25 second set to seal the deal, but the Warriors then fell to rival Wiggins 2-1, losing the final set 25-21. Finally, they were then overpowered by Kit Carson, losing 25-8 and 25-6. The match with Fleming on Thursday will be their only action this week, but next week features three matches in four days.
Prairie had one of the toughest draws in the Brush field and went 0-3. The Mustangs, missing some key players as well as head coach Jayce Tappy, fell to Briggsdale in two sets (25-13, 25-22) in their opener and then ran into the juggernaut Kit Carson squad. The Wildcats took a two-set sweep (25-16, 25-9). Prairie closed out the event with a two set loss to Wiggins, 27-25 and 25-17. The Mustangs led early in both sets, but could not hold off the Tigers. Prairie is off this week, but will play three times next week.
Fourth-ranked McClave looks to start the season this Saturday when the Cardinals host their own tournament. The Cards will square off with Centennial, Sierra Grande and Holly with matches beginning at 11:00am. McClave cruised to a title last year against the same field, sweeping all three opponents. Holly, who received two votes in the preseason poll, swept Cheraw last Thursday and will face Wiley on Tuesday and Deerfield, KS on Friday, both on the road.
Hi-Plains/Flagler (#5) has a light schedule to begin the season, only playing two matches in the next two weeks. They open the slate on Thursday with a home clash against Cheyenne Wells.  Last season’s meeting was won by Hi-Plains/Flagler 3-0, but two of the sets were very competitive.
Sixth-ranked Otis will finally break the seal on the new season on Thursday when the Bulldogs host Wray, a 2A squad who returns all but one member from last year’s state qualifying team. Otis swept Wray on the road last year, dominating the first two sets before having to put in extra work to finish off the Eagles 28-26. The Bulldogs will also be in action on Friday, visiting Eads.  Otis cruised past that group of Eagles 3-0 last year, surrendering a total of 37 points in the three-set sweep.
La Veta, looking to make a return trip to state, is off to a 2-0 start after road wins over 3A Trinidad and 2A Custer County last week. The seventh-ranked Redskins swept both opponents without giving up more than 20 points in any set. Kayla Corsentino led the way with eight kills against the Miners and a dozen against the Bobcats. The Redskins will participate in a tri-meet at Creede on Saturday, facing the hosts and Aguilar. La Veta swept both last year in a tri-meet.
The season gets underway on Thursday for #9 Springfield, as the Longhorns host Eads. Springfield beat the Eagles twice last season, taking six of seven sets along the way. The series between the two has been competitive recently, with Springfield holding a 9-6 edge in the last 15 meetings. The Longhorns will return to action on Saturday when they host Deerfield, KS.
Briggsdale could find itself ranked when the new poll is released next week. The Falcons are off to a 3-1 start after rebounding from an opening loss to 2A Union Colony Prep to claim a 3-0 mark in the Brush tournament. The Falcons open North Central League play on Tuesday against Peetz. Briggsdale has won five straight meetings with the Bulldogs, the last four in sweeps.
As you can see, few statistics were included in our weekly report.  We have an agreement with MaxPreps.com to use statistics from their website so we highly encourage coaches to report information to them in a timely manner.  That allows us to provide better promotion for teams and individuals in all volleyball classifications.