As we’ve produced with other classifications this week, our 2A volleyball report will serve as a primer for league activity across the state. Most conferences are deep into league play and many clubs have already taken major steps to landing a local championship. Others remain in contention and need wins to boost RPI to earn a top 12 spot and host a regional tournament.
#9 Simla sits alone atop the Black Forest standings with a 3-0 mark and the Cubs are in good shape to land yet another title. They lead Peyton and Colorado Springs School by one game and Coach Sue Snyder’s club has already beaten both. The Panthers and Kodiaks get together on Friday and that result could the second-place squad.
Peyton has won five straight and has won seven of ten overall. Sophomore Riley Sterns has developed into the top offensive and she leads the Panthers with 105 kills. Skylar Botos is next with 65. Sydney Campbell (117) and Botos (113) are 1-2 in diggs while Josie Lee is the main ballhandler with 228 assists.
In the late August loss to Simla (3-1), Sterns led Peyton with 10 kills but the team had just 25 on the match compared to 41 for the Cubs.
CSS suffered their loss to Simla just last week and that result dropped the Kodiaks to 4-5 on the season. They may have played better in the loss compared to Peyton as the Kodiaks finished with 33 kills; just four fewer than Simla. Elise Layton had 14 in the match and paces the club with 72 on the season. Whitney Ricardi picked up nine kills against Simla and is second with 65.
Simla is off until the weekend when they host their own tournament. The Cubs are in the same pool with 1A defending champion and top ranked Kit Carson.
#1 Yuma (2-0), #4 Wiggins (4-0) and Merino (1-0) share the early lead in the Lower Platte. Yuma returns to league play on Friday against Caliche but they’ve been busy against larger schools of late. The Tribe split two homes matches on Saturday; beating 4A Roosevelt but falling for a second straight year to 3A #2 University. On Tuesday, the Indians picked up a quality three-game sweep of 3A Sterling.
Wiggins stayed perfect on the season (9-0) with win over Sedgwick County on Tuesday. The Tigers next step on the court at the Akron Tournament on Saturday and will get tested in pool play against 1A power Otis. Both teams will more than likely be unbeaten when they tangle.
Bre Gilliland is a key factor in the Wiggins attack as she has registered an ace on nearly 20 percent of her serves (31 of 154). Chloe Baker (247 assists) continues to the direct the ball up front to leading hitters Tanna Hansen (103 kills) and Paige Finegan (59).
Merino, which drops to 1A for the post-season this year, has a league win over Holyoke (3-0). They will also compete in the Akron Tournament and will be joined by Otis and Wiggins in the pool round but first the Rams face Haxtun in a conference match on Friday.
#5 Denver Christian scored a major win over defending state champion Lyons (3-0) on Tuesday. Both teams entered the match unbeaten in the Mile HIgh but now the Thunder keep a share of the top spot with Dawson and #7 Union Colony (both 3-0). The three-way tie could stay in place for awhile as the remaining unbeatens don’t square off until October. Denver Christian closes with Dawson and Union Colony on October 16th and 18th. Union Colony, which has a win over Dawson in tournament play earlier this year, meets the Mustangs on October 19th.
Denver Christian returns to the court on Friday at home against Limon. Dawson has matches with Front Range Christian and DSST-Stapleton (non-league) on Thursday and Friday. Union Colony scored a league win over Twin Peaks on Tuesday and seeks another against Gilpin County on Thursday.
It’s a four-team logjam atop the Western Slope but the standings could change drastically this weekend as three of them square off. #2 Meeker (4-0) hosts Rangely (2-0) on Friday and West Grand (2-0) on Saturday and wins in both could leave the Cowboys tied with 1A DeBeque (5-0) atop the race. DeBeque has just one league match this week and they’re favored against Hotchkiss on Friday.
Rangely has beaten Vail Christian and Caprock Academy in conference play. Marlena Miller combined for 20 kills in the two wins and was the individual leader in both. Hannah Wilke had six kills against Vail Christian and seven against Caprock. Skylar Thacker combined for 41 diggs including 27 against Vail Christian. And Kassidee Brown recorded 17 and 24 assists respectively. Makenzie Cochran also tossed in five aces in the win over Caprock.
Despite the two league wins, West Grand (4-5) is a game below five hundred for the season. Their league wins have been against North Park and Plateau Valley and they’ve been difficult to grab. The match with Plateau Valley went four sets and they were pushed to five before downing North Park.
Our quick weekly reminder for the Santa Fe is that the league is divided into two divisions this year. #3 Swink (6-0) is in great shape to land the Eastern division title as they already have a two-game edge on second place Crowley County and at least a three-game advantage over all others. The Lions did see an end to their unbeaten string as they were swept by 1A #2 La Veta last Saturday.
Swink this week tangles with John Mall and Rocky Ford in conference matches this week. Upcoming challenges include dates with La Junta (October 6th), Hoehne (October 16th) and Del Norte (October 20th). Two of the three of course won’t impact the conference standings.
#8 Rye (6-1) and Hoehne (4-1) are co-leaders in the Western division. Rye has the tiebreaker thanks to a five-set win in the first of two head-to-head meetings last week. Hannah Ambler led the Thunderbolts with 11 kills. Averie Navarette (9) and Kamryn Baca-Cordova (8) combined for 17 for Hoehne.
Fowler (2-2) sits in third place and probably needs a win over Hoehne to stay within range of a division crown. A loss drops them two games off the pace but the gap is not too large as they have rematches with both Rye and Hoehne coming up in October. But a setback this week means they could not stumble anywhere else on the schedule.
The Grizzlies’ league losses are against Rye and Swink and they failed to win a set in either. Kaitlyn Smith recorded seven kills in each match.
#6 Del Norte (4-0) continues to stand alone in first inside the Southern Peaks. They’ve already beaten second place squads Sanford and Sargent in first meeting so the Tigers have complete control of the championship chase. They are 9-1 overall and enter the week fresh off a quality four-set win over #8 Rye last Saturday. It was a great match as sets two (30-28) and four (26-24) went extras but both in favor of the Tigers.
There’s just one league match on the docket for Del Norte this week as they host Custer County on Thursday. Rematches with Sanford and Sargent are up next week.
#10 Byers is the last to join the fun in the Union Pacific schedule. All other league teams had already played a couple of league matches before they took the court in Burlington on Tuesday. The Bulldogs though cruised to a 3-0 victory at the Pit and will seek a second league win with Flagler/Hi Plains on Thursday. Phoenix Bright’s team also heads to the Akron Tournament and will face the host Rams in pool play. Akron was a top 10 team last week and played well in a 3-0 loss to Yuma but the loss cost them a spot in the poll.
The win over Burlington was their fourth straight since a loss to Denver Christian. They’re chasing Limon and Stratton/Liberty (both 2-0) who have the early conference lead. Limon does not have a league match this week but must face Kit Carson and Denver Christian on the road Friday and Saturday. Stratton/Liberty is favored at Bethune on Thursday and then will try to hand Otis their first loss on Friday.
1A Dove Creek (3-0) has the San Juan conference lead by one game over Mancos, Dolores, Nucla and Ouray. The Bulldogs picked up a very important league win over Dolores (3-2) last week and continue their run through the schedule against Ridgway and Norwood this weekend. Cassie Gatlin had a dozen kills against Dolores and Madilynn Hankins added 11.
