2A VOLLEYBALL REGIONAL PREVIEW

The Class 2A volleyball regional tournament may be a bit top heavy this year as we expect the top five seeds to easily advance to the state tournament.  From Region Six on, it gets interesting as each set of brackets features at least two teams with a legitimate shot at winning the regional crown.  And there may be three contenders in Regions 11 and 12.
 

REGION ONE

Yuma (22-1), Peyton (16-7), Crowley County (8-15)
Top ranked Yuma heavily favored to land the regional tournament on their home court this week.  The Indians have played in four consecutive state finals and captured a championship in 2015.  The Indians are 12-1 against teams that qualified for the playoffs this year with a lone loss to 3A University.  Seniors Chasey Blach (333), Cody Robinson (257) and Taylor Hansen (144) are 1-2-3 in kills and junior Reagan Nolin, with 722 assists, is the primary ball-handler.  Robinson tops the defense with 318 diggs.  Peyton won 16 matches and finished third in the Black Forest behind Simla and Colorado Springs School.  Skylar Botos (170) and Riley Stearns (163) top the team in hitting and Josie Lee ended the regular season with 498 assists.  Crowley County picked up eight wins overall but one came against Peyton (2-0) last week at the Chargers Invitational.
 

REGION TWO

Denver Christian (22-1), Paonia (13-10), Calhan (10-12)
A state semifinalist a year ago, Denver Christian is poised for another deep playoff run.  The Thunder ran the table in the rugged Mile-High conference and enters the regional tournament with 22 wins and just one loss.  The loss to 3A unbeaten Alamosa (2-0) came in the fourth match of the season so the Thunder carry a 19-match winning streak into the post-season.  Jacki Bogner, with 277 kills and Anna Kaemingk with 223, are the first two options at the net.  Jenna Peters leads the team with 60 aces and the Thunder have 252 on the season.  She has a team high 376 assists and shares setting duties with Jenai Haman (258).  Paonia (13-10) finished fourth in the Western Slope and lost two of three matches at their league tournament last week.  Poppy Lightfoot (282 kills) is the top hitter and Carly Horn (446 assists) the top setter.  Lightfoot (287 diggs) and Jessica Deaton (266) lead the Eagles defense.  Calhan (10-12) ended up fourth in the Black Forest and won two straight just twice during the season.  They’ll need to do it for a third time this weekend to reach the state tournament.
 

REGION THREE

Meeker (23-0), Holyoke (15-8), Sargent (11-12)
The only unbeaten team in Class 2A and just one of two remaining statewide, Meeker dropped just two sets the entire season and was never pushed to a full five sets.  Their last game loss came on September 8^th in a four-set win over league rival Vail Mountain.  The Cowboys also return almost the entire roster from the club that reached the Final Four a year ago.  Krissie Luce tops the team with 223 kills with Julia Dinwiddie next with 188.  Sydnie Main totaled 140 and Caleigh Morlan 123.  Lila Klingensmith, with 383 diggs, is the top defender and Kassie Luce produced 728 assists against just 18 errors.  The Holyoke girls are one of eight teams from the nine-team Lower Platte to reach the regional tournament in either Class 1A or 2A.  They finished with 15 victories and have won four straight and eight of nine.  Freshman Kristin Vieselmeyer paces the Dragons with 178 kills and Taeryn Trumper finished with 129.  Emily Jelden led the defense with 220 diggs and Kaylee Camblin handed out 325 assists.  Sargent placed third in the Southern Peaks.  Every loss came against a team in the bracket or a 3A opponent.
 

REGION FOUR

Wiggins (20-2), Heritage Christian (15-8), Rangely (11-12)
Coming off a semifinal appearance last season, Wiggins is back in the mix and favored to win the regional bracket at home.  Losses are against Otis (3-2) and Yuma (3-0) and the Tigers carry a five-match win streak into the tournament; a stretch that includes wins against fellow regional hosts Simla and Union Colony Prep.  Senior Chloe Baker surpassed 3,000 assists earlier this season and has 829 for the season.  She feeds a front line anchored by Tanna Hansen (329 kills), Paige Finegan (191) and Bre Gilliland (138).  Gilliland also has a team-best 54 aces and Baker tops the Tigers with 244 diggs.  Heritage Christian is new to the Class 2A bracket this year as they bump up from the 1A division.  The sophomore tandem of Savannah Brown (164) and Kate Moulton (142) has combined for 306 kills.  Tierra Adams has 443 diggs and Moulton 323.  Rangely started strong at 6-2 but has just five wins since September 14^th.  They still tied for fifth with Plateau Valley inside the rugged WSL.  Marlena Miller has 155 kills and Kassidee Brown 304 assists.
 

REGION FIVE

Swink (20-3), Sanford (15-8), Wray (9-13)
There’s not a more experience team in the field than Swink as the five seniors on the roster have led the club since they stepped on the court as freshmen.  Brianna Denton has a team high 186 kills, 41 aces and 259 diggs.  Skyler Jones tops the Lions with 298 assists with 233 diggs and 179 kills.  Kyla O’Neal has provided 112 kills, 40 aces and 331 diggs.  Tierra Holland finished regular season play with 273 assists, 198 diggs, 44 aces and 70 kills.  The fifth senior, Alyssa Chavez, chipped in 45 kills, 65 diggs and 61 assists.  Junior Brooklyn Mueller is another key player as she finished with 171 kills.  Sanford has quality losses to Meeker, Swink, Del Norte (twice), Alamosa and Rye.  Wray features a good 1-2 punch at the net in Bailey Redden (197 kills) and Paige Brown (184).  Freshman Chloe Cure ended up with 329 assists.
 

REGION SIX

Del Norte (21-2), Dolores (17-3), Rocky Ford (9-14)
Because of location, not much attention was awarded Del Norte this year but the Tigers feature one of the best records in Class 2A and look to battle for a Final Four berth.  Their first loss came early against 3A unbeaten Alamosa and a second one late in the season to Swink (3-1).  A few of the quality wins came against Hoehne, Salida and Sangre De Cristo.  Myka Glover (236 kills) and Lacie Jones (235) are the leaders up front and they get help from Kiela Madrid (130).  Brianna Gallegos is the top setter with 374 assists and Sophia McConnell the top defender with 339 diggs.  Glover added 263.  The Tigers though could get pushed by Dolores.  The Bears reached the state tournament a year ago and after dropping three of their first five matches this year, won 15 in a row.  Jordan Elder (208) is among the best hitters in Class 2A.  Tatum Majors is next with 114.  Elder also led the Bears with 197 diggs followed by Sydney Smith with 170.  Setter Abby Jones handed out 386 assists.  Rocky Ford is relatively young with sophomores Gracie Moreland (153) and Lily Hancock (152) filling the top hitting positions.  Another sophomore, Teagan Mendoza-Werner is the leader in assists with 248.
 

REGION SEVEN

Rye (19-3), Akron (12-10), Dayspring Christian (11-12)
Much like Del Norte, Rye did not receive very good promotion this year despite finishing with 19 wins in 22 matches.  The Thunderbolts are one of three Santa Fe teams playing at home this week and they edged the other two, Hoehne and Swink, by one game to capture the league championship.  Losses are against Del Norte, Simla and Swink.  Rachel Shaffer enters the regional tournament with 248 kills and Hannah Ambler has 196.  Ashlyn Romine is among the state leaders with 442 diggs and Shaffer chipped in 276.  Jami Ortiz (247) and Ella Peters (209) share the setters’ role.  Akron is among the most improved teams in Class 2A as they won just two matches in 2017.  Now they hope to get by Rye and Dayspring Christian for the regional crown.  They swept Dayspring 3-0 very early in the season behind 11 kills and 17 diggs from Quincy Basler.  Sara Wylie added 10 kills and 13 diggs while Kate Pachner added 13 diggs.  Mariah DeMers provided 34 assists.  All but Pachner are underclassmen.  Dayspring Christian is working through a rebuilding year after losing four-year standout hitters Katie Kurz and Megan Roberts.  They combined for over 1,000 kills in 2017.  M’Kenna Nelson led the Eagles with 123 this year.
 

REGION EIGHT

Vail Mountain (18-5), Dawson (16-7), Sedgwick County (10-13)
Vail Mountain quietly put together a strong season that closed with a second place finish behind Meeker in the Western Slope.  They suffered two losses to Meeker, two to 4A Battle Mountain and one to 3A Aspen.  Senior Sarah Evans powered through 378 kills while Maggie Sturm (158) and Lexi Linafelter (140) combined for another 298.  The Gore Rangers collected 252 aces including 60 from Sturm, 57 from Evans and 52 from Chloe Pesso.  Pesso also provided 733 of the team’s 766 assists and Nellie Smith picked up 377 diggs.  Dawson competed well against top-level teams in the Mile High and picked up two wins over Union Colony Prep late in the season.  They also went four and five sets in losses to Lyons and took a set from Denver Christian as well.  Kierra Porrey led the Mustangs with 202 kills and Angelina Sala tossed up 70 aces.  She also led the team with 549 assists and Nicole Scribner collected 272 diggs.  Sedgwick County is also on the rise.  They won just nine games over the past three seasons but picked up 10 this season.  They finished strong with four straight wins including a tourney title in Nebraska in the final week.
 

REGION NINE

Simla (18-5), Limon (12-11), John Mall (10-13)
If the regular season meeting between Simla and Limon is any indication, their regional final could be a dandy.  Simla outlasted the Badgers 3-2 earlier this year in a match decided by a total of 17 points over the five-set marathon.  Kegan Hamacher had 18 kills in the win and Riley Maranville had 17.   Those two were also 1-2 in hitting for the season with a combined 442 kills.  Delaney Sotomayor had 14 diggs and Halle Lutz 10 against Limon.  They totaled 430 for the season.  Lutz (22) and Maranville (21) combined for 43 assists in the win and were separated by just four on the season overall.  Maranville ended up with 288 and Lutz 284.  Limon picked up eight kills from Trista Marx and seven from Anna Weisensee.  Marx and Hines led the defense with six diggs apiece while Amy Weisensee (9) and Lauren Stang (8) combined for 17 assists.  On the season, Anna Weisensee is the top hitter (198 kills) and top defender (138 diggs) and Stang the top setter (202 assists).  The Badgers have won nine of their last 11.  John Mall faced very good competition inside the Santa Fe and won’t be intimidated by either regional foe.  Amanda Dotter totaled 257 kills and Shelby Faris 135.  Dotter also picked up 237 diggs and freshman Alyssa Brown handed out 399 assists.
 

REGION TEN

Hoehne (15-8), Lyons (15-8), Plateau Valley (15-7)
Defending state champion Lyons opened the season 1-4 and struggled at the end with losses in three of their final four matches but in-between they strung together 13 wins in 14 matches.  The lone loss through the middle part of the season came against 2^nd seeded Denver Christian which turned out to be the league championship match.  Taylor Maguire totaled 352 kills and 278 diggs to lead the Lions in both categories.  She also chipped in 40 aces despite battling injuries through part of the season.  Kylen Christiansen topped the defending champs with 442 assists and was second in kills with 173.  Charlotte Rogers added 103 kills.  Playing at home, Hoehne is still the slight favorite.   Following a five-set loss to Simla on September 22^nd, the Farmers dropped just one of their final ten matches and fought past the likes of Swink, Fowler and Sargent.  Averie Navarette should be an all-state candidate as she leads the Farmers in kills (219) and diggs (349).  She is also tied with Tiffany Montoya for the top server with 59 aces apiece.  Hailee Vigil added 54 aces.  Other hitters include Kamryn Baca-Cordova (178), Montoya (138) and Autumn Gutierrez (127).  Montoya (354) was the assists leader followed by Sarah East (334).  Abbigayle Dorenkamp provided 331 diggs.  Plateau Valley faces a very long road trip and must get off the bus without tired legs to battle the other two.  Hannah Piland (152 kills), Keely Long (102) and Mary Claire Nichols (101) provide depth up front.  Kassidy Wilkerson (93) also gets her
chances.  Katrina Lang, with 434 assists, directs the attack.
 

REGION ELEVEN

Highland (17-6), Byers (15-8), Fowler (10-13)
This is one of two brackets in the regional field where all three teams can make a case to winning a spot in the state tournament.  All three play in solid conferences and all three faced strong competition throughout the season so this one could come down to tiebreakers.  Highland has the advantage of playing at home.  They ended up tied with Union Colony Prep and Dawson for third place in the Mile-High and beat both along with defending state champion Lyons in the league tournament last week.  Olivia Himmel led Highland with 337 kills on the season and produced 83 in three tournament wins including 36 against Lyons.  Chloe Bolt had 217 kills for the year and finished with 21 in a five-set win over Union Colony.  Other key Huskies are Maiya Dehoyos (414 assists — 51 aces), Alyssa Winter (487 diggs) and Serinady Segura (242 diggs).  Byers missed out on the Union Pacific crown in a late season loss to Limon.  They lost again to the Badgers in tournament play last week but both matches went five sets.  In between were three wins including a 3-1 decision over Fowler.  Arica Herman (211 kills), Symantha Linnebur (203) and Lauren Marin (185) share hitting duties.  Becca Earl (255 diggs), Kenzy Largent (217) and Kelsie Simpson (206) are solid defenders and Earl directs the attack with 525 assists.  Fowler suffered each loss to a team still alive in the regional tournament.  They did finish the regular season with a solid four-set win over Akron.  Tressa Reed and Emily Bell each had nine kills, Jayden Osborne 20 diggs and Avery Bouldin 16 in the win.  Osborne added 13 assists but Isabella Proctor led the way with 14.
 

REGION TWELVE

Union Colony Prep (15-8), Holly (12-7), Colorado Springs School (14-9)
Another set of pairings where all three clubs have a legitimate shot at landing the state tournament invitation.  Union Colony Prep is the host team but the Timberwolves finished the season with six losses in seven matches.  Colorado Springs also dropped three of their last four so Holly might be favored as they won nine of their last ten including a quality five-set win over Swink.  The Wildcats also have experience gained from playing in the 1A state tournament a year ago.  They’re led up front and in many cases on the back line by Kallie Cathcart and Sadie Davis.  Cathcart is tops in kills with 301 and second in assists with 231.  Davis is second in kills (211) and first in assists with 258.  Jordan Kalma also provides 306 diggs.  Most of the Colorado Springs School offense is provided by the tandem of Elise Layton (240 kills) and Whitney Richardi (153).  Molly Bigbee, with 353 kills, anchors the defensive group while Hannah Gebhardt (273 assists) and Sarina Mansour (190) each see time at setter.  Union Colony features Mayson Fago, one of the best hitters in Class 2A.  She has 348 kills and also produced 94 blocks on the other side of the net.  Desirae Pisano totaled 316 assists and Kamryn Arnold 273.