The volleyball season is nearing its midpoint and the action is definitely starting to heat up. Many of the top teams will face tough matchups this week, some with serious league implications.
One of the teams that sees its toughest challenges coming in non-league play is #1 Kit Carson. The Wildcats start the week with a contest against 2A Limon on Thursday, followed by a High Plains League tilt at Cheraw on Friday. Things get ratcheted up on Saturday, when Kit Carson travels to Simla for a tournament. The Wildcats will be in a pool with 2A Ignacio and the hosts, 2A #9 Simla.
Kit Carson has defeated Limon is sweeps each of the last two seasons and has won five straight against Cheraw. Overall, they have beaten the Wolverines in 15 of the last 17. The Wildcats have not faced either Simla or Ignacio in recent years.
Second-ranked La Veta picked up a pair of impressive wins last week, sweeping Creede and 2A #3 Swink. That made it four straight wins for the Redskins, who visit Centennial on Friday. They have won 12 consecutive matches over the Rams, losing a total of three sets along the way.
One of the matches garnering the most attention this week will take place during pool play at the Akron Tournament on Saturday. Third-ranked Otis will square off with 2A #4 Wiggins in a pool that also includes 2A Custer County. The other pool sports the hosts, 2A Akron, along with 2A #10 Byers and 5A Hinkley.
Both Otis and Wiggins could be unbeaten when they meet, but the Bulldogs must first get through a Friday night clash with #9 Stratton/Liberty, who is also unbeaten on the season. The winner gains an advantage in the District 5 seedings. Otis has won all seven meetings with Stratton/Liberty since the schools formed a co-op, but the Bulldog domination goes even further back. Otis won the last 10 match-ups with Liberty and also took the only recent contest with Stratton.
The Bulldogs are coming off a strong three-game sweep of Flagler/Hi Plains last week behind nine kills from Apryl Tolson and seven from MaKenna Metzler.  They outhit the Thunder 26-13 at the net overall.  Sydney Reynolds provided 15 assists.
Another huge contest with major implications is the first of two regular season meetings between #4 Briggsdale and #5 Weldon Valley on Friday. Briggsdale rolls a nine-game winning streak into Thursday’s road contest at Arickaree/Woodlin, so the Falcons could be 10-0 heading into that rivalry match. They have won their last four by sweeps.
Weldon Valley earned a big sweep victory over #10 Fleming last week, its fourth straight win in three sets. The Warriors have not dropped a set since their heart breaking five-set loss to Wiggins. They had lost four straight to Briggsdale prior to earning a five-set victory at the state tournament. Overall, they have won 20 of the last 26 against the Falcons. The two get together again in Briggsdale on October 11th.
Kaybree Keating (100) has reached triple figures in kills through nine games.  Four other Warriors have at least 36 kills with Linda Amaglio leading that group with 42.  Ruby Valle leads the defense with 109 diggs and Christa Sandoval is one of three ball-handers to see extensive court time.  She leads the team with 98 assists.
Briggsdale gets plenty of offense from senior Kimberlyn Krise.  She has a team best 144 kills.  Talia Donoho is next with 67 and Shelby Hoffman has 54.  Those three also top the defensive effort as Hoffman has 145 diggs, Krise 123 and Donoho 107.  Donoho also has 25 aces in nine matches and leads the club with 143 assists.
The slow, steady climb up the polls for De Beque continues, as the Dragons moved from eighth to sixth this week. After downing Caprock Academy and Ouray last week, both in four sets, the Dragons are home for three matches this week. They get things started on Wednesday against Caprock, followed by Hotchkiss on Friday, and Ouray on Saturday. The second half of the schedule has tough match-ups with 3A Cedaredge, 2A #2 Meeker, and 2A Vail Mountain.
After flying under the radar for the first month of the season, Walsh caught the attention of the voters this week, jumping from unranked to #7. The Eagles entered the week undefeated, with wins over #8 McClave and Cheyenne Wells on their record. The week opened with a match-up against a fellow unbeaten, South Baca, on Tuesday, and wraps up on Thursday with a triangular in Kansas against Cimarron and Southwestern Heights.
Seniors Shiann Fritzler and Tyree Jones pace the Eagles in hitting with 39 and 32 kills respectively.  Fritzler and Dakota Cook are tied with 66 assists apiece.
McClave started last weekend with a win over Wiley on Friday and the Cards would add another victory over the Panthers on Saturday in a tournament at Hi-Plains. The Cards also defeated Cotopaxi in the tournament, but they suffered their second loss of the week, falling to Eads. McClave had lost to Kit Carson last Tuesday. The Cards had a single match on the slate this week, hosting Cheraw on Tuesday. That series has been lopsided in McClave’s favor, with the Cards winning five straight and 12 of 15.
Tenth-ranked Fleming’s loss to Weldon Valley last Friday was the fourth in its last five outings. The young Wildcats had won 31 of the last 39 against prior to that defeat. This week, they’ll look to extend their dominance over Prairie, a program that they’ve defeated 34 out of the last 35 meetings. The lone win for the Mustangs during that stretch came on Halloween night in 2015. The winner will be alone in third place inside the North Central.