It’s a very important week in Class 4A volleyball as we count no less than a dozen matches on the schedule that will help determine league championships. Some races are still very early with several teams sharing first place but many of those leaders go head-to-head. Other conferences have already played three to five league games but their leaders also square off this week.
Our focus again this week is on conference races and setting the stage for the final few weeks of the season. We also concentrate a bit on RPI standings and use the updated numbers from Sunday as our baseline.
We begin in the Tri Valley where Holy Family (3-0), Windsor (4-0) and Frederick (4-0) share the top spot but the standings will change this week for sure on Thursday. That’s when Holy Family makes the trek to Frederick. The Tigers are 7-4 on the season while the Warriors, at 13-1, have been on the biggest surprises in the 4A division. It’s the first of two meetings on the season and both clubs still have two meetings with Windsor as well.
Windsor has two league matches on tap this week as they visit Skyline on Tuesday and host Fort Morgan on Thursday. As mentioned several times this year, the Wizards move up to Class 5A for the post-season and they’re in a great position for the playoffs. They open the week fourth in RPI points trailing only Chaparral, Valor Christian and Cherokee Trail and would get the chance to host a regional if the tournament was played this week. Frederick is 7th in the Class 4A RPI and Holy Family is 12th.
Another logjam at the top of the standings is found on the Western Slope where Steamboat Springs (5-1) has a one game edge on three teams with Palisade, Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley all sitting with two losses. Two matchups of the top teams are on the docket this week as Steamboat Springs goes to Eagle Valley on Thursday and then on Saturday, Battle Mountain is home to Palisade.
Eagle Valley won the first meeting with Steamboat Springs and Palisade took the first match with Battle Mountain. All four teams also have a second league match this week so the standings will look quite a bit different come Monday.
Battle Mountain is the highest Western Slope league team in the RPI standings as they sit 11th. That puts them on the bubble to host a regional tournament as the top 12 earn that advantage. Eagle Valley is 15th and Palisade is 17th. And despite leading the conference race, Steamboat Springs is only 33rd and since only the top 36 get post-season invites, winning a league title may be their only route.
The South Central is home to a first-place battle on Tuesday when Pueblo West entertains Pueblo County. Both clubs are 4-0 but West is heavily favored as they’ve won 80 consecutive conference games. The loser drops into second place as all other league teams have at least two losses. It’s also the first meeting between the Cyclones and Hornets.
Pueblo West has climbed to 9th in the RPI standings. Pueblo County is well down the list at #26.
Longmont (8-0) earned the first half lead in the Northern conference by beating Niwot in four sets last week. That result left the Cougars alone in second place (7-1) and one game ahead of Silver Creek (6-2). Niwot makes the short drive to Silver Creek on Thursday for their second battle this year. They easily won the first gathering in three sets and another likely locks up a top two league finish for Niwot.
The first-place Trojans have rematches with Niwot and Silver Creek on October 18th and 23rd and both contests are on the road. Longmont is 4th in RPI points and Niwot 5th beginning the week. Silver Creek is 23rd and likely out of the running to host a regional tournament.
Only four conference matches have been played in the Pikes Peak and the best win belongs to Discovery Canyon. The Thunder rolled past Palmer Ridge in three sets last week and have another key match at home with Cheyenne Mountain on Tuesday. Discovery Canyon and Cheyenne Mountain are both 1-0 and tied with Lewis Palmer and Air Academy for the very early lead. The Rangers and Kadets also meet on Tuesday so the list of leaders will be cut in half that night.
As you would guess, the Pikes Peak is well represented in the RPI and three teams are in good shape to land regional tournaments. Lewis Palmer and Discovery Canyon entered the week 1-2 statewide and Palmer Ridge was 8th. Air Academy is 20th and a win over Lewis Palmer this week could boost them quite a bit.
It’s a very similar situation across town in the Colorado Springs Metro chase. Canon City, Woodland Park, Mesa Ridge and Widefield all grabbed wins in league openers and those four teams collide this week. First up is a match between Widefield and Mesa Ridge on Tuesday while Thursday is the date for Woodland Park and Canon City.
Woodland Park (6-1) has the best overall record inside the conference. The Bobcats are also a strong sixth in RPI standings and would easily host a regional if the tournaments were held this week. Classical Academy, which has not played a league game yet, is next on the RPI list at #21. Canon City is 34th.
Evergreen’s five set win over D’Evelyn last week gave the Jeffco lead to the Cougars. They’re 6-0 with D’Evelyn a game back at 4-1. Golden (3-2) is alone in third to start the week. The key match this week is Thursday night as Golden challenges Evergreen. The Cougars took the first contest in three. D’Evelyn has two road matches at Littleton and Green Mountain Tuesday and Thursday.
No league team is in the top 12 so all would be on the road in the regional round if events were held on Saturday. Evergreen is 14th and well within range to getting into the top 12 but Golden (24th) is more than likely out of contention to host a regional and D’Evelyn (37th) has to worry about just getting into the bracket.
Weld Central has the Colorado 7 lead thanks to their win over Skyview last week. Both teams were unbeaten in league play but the Rebels took the win in three sets. The win also kept them one game up second place Englewood and the Rebels also have a win over Englewood so they’re in good shape. They meet both challengers a second time and one of those matches is Thursday as they host Englewood. They beat the Pirates 25-19, 25-17, 26-24 in game one.
Montrose is a game back of Fruita Monument in the Southwestern league chase. The Indians host the Wildcats in the rematch next week (October 9th). The Indians opened the week by beating Grand Junction on Monday and will go to Delta for a non-league game on Thursday. Montrose is 16th in RPI points and still has time to climb into the top 12.
Fruita Monument (5A) has just one league match this week and it comes Tuesday against Grand Junction Central.
Mullen, Thomas Jefferson and Coronado are three teams that compete in 5A leagues that will come into Class 4A for the playoffs. All three teams need to keep winning to earn berths. Mullen is 28th, Thomas Jefferson 29th and Coronado 35th in the RPI ladder. Coronado starts play in the 5A CS Metro this week against Liberty (Tuesday) and Palmer (Thursday). Mullen is currently in the lower division of the 5A Centennial with Thomas Jefferson still favored to land the 4A portion of the City League chase and challenge Denver East for the overall crown.
