Cherokee Trail, the defending Class 5A volleyball state champion, won’t be at the Denver Coliseum on Friday to try and make it two in a row.
So a dozen big-school teams will have two days to decide a new titlist.
Included in the field are Fairview, the 2016 state runner-up, as well as a lot of the familiar programs you’ve heard of over the years such as Chaparral, Cherry Creek, Coronado, Highlands Ranch, as well as eight others in hot pursuit of their first championship.
Play will continue into Saturday evening’s finals.  All the matches can be seen live through a video stream at www.nfhsnetwork.com.  Colorado Preps will track all tournament results in progress and you can monitor those results by clicking here.
POOL 1
Fossil Ridge (22-3)
Seed: 1
Coach: Paul Schumek
State titles: None
Sabercats tied with Fairview at 11-1 at the top of the front Range League. Fairview swept the ‘Cats on Oct. 10. … Sophomores Riley Zuhn (258) and Catie Semadeni (239) top Fossil Ridge in kills. … Brynn Montgomery (55) leads Fossil Ridge in kills (55). Another sophomore, Metaya Megson, is next at 48.
Coronado (18-7)
Seed: 8
Coach: Stormie Wells
State titles: 1983, 3A; 1988, 4A; 1992, 5A
Cougars finished third in the Colorado Springs Metro League, were 4-2. … Coronado won 13 of 21 sets in the league. … Cougars have won past four matches. … Junior Mara Abernethy leads Coronado with 288 kills. Jaelyn Hershberger, another junior, has 235. … It’s all about the team’s juniors — Delany St. Pierre (47) and Bethany Heitland (43) lead in service aces.
Highlands Ranch (17-8)
Seed: 12
Coach: Louis Krauss
State titles: 1991, 4A
Falcons tied with Mountain Vista and Legend for third place in the brutal Continental League. In fact, nearly half (five) of the 12-team field is from the Continental. … Most of the Falcons’ Killing has been done by the superlative Melissa Evans (451) and Kelsie Milkowksi (283). … Milkowski leads Highlands Ranch with 63 aces. … Allison Conor does so much of the passing. She has been credited with 487 assists.
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POOL 2
Rock Canyon (23-2)
Seed: 2
Coach: Angela Nyland-Hanson
State titles: None
Jaguars won the Continental League by two matches. Of their 35 league games, they won 30. …  Junior Keeley Davis has been a killing machine with a whopping 365. … Jags made the semifinals a year ago. … Senior Riley Bradbury is among Rock Canyon’s leaders in several categories, including digs with a team-leading 305.
Arapahoe (20-5)
Seed: 7
Coach: Jordan Wright
State titles: None
Warriors finished tied with Grandview in the Centennial League, ended 6-1, actually split two matches with the Wolves, lost 3-2 in league on Oct. 18. … Killy Winz has perhaps the most apt volleyball name in the state. Of course, she leads the team with 349 kills. … Jayden Liberty adds 269 kills and Kaylee Rogers 226. … Abbey Anderson (45) and Carly Killorin (43 and there’s a theme here) lead in aces and Liberty (33) and McKenzie Stahmer (20) are team leaders in blocks.
Legend (17-8)
Seed: 11
Coach: Verlyn Rosenthal
State title: None
Titans tied for third in the Continental League with Highlands Ranch and Mountain Vista. … After six matches, Legend was 3-3. … Senior Katie Turner has a team-leading 258 kills. Next is Hannah Haveman with 176. … Haveman is tops on the team with 39 aces. Turner is next at 37. … Haley Vorwaller is first in Titans blocks with 24.
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POOL 3
Fairview (21-4)
Seed: 3
Coach: Kelsey Spencer
State titles: None
Knights enter state having won 11 matches in succession. … Fairview finished runner-up a year ago, losing in straight sets to Cherokee Trail, but only by a combined 13 points. … Caroline Schmiedeler (183), Haley KIlday (142) and Christine Schmiedeler (113) head the Knights in kills. … Kilday also has 22 aces.
Mountain Vista (20-5)
Seed: 6
Coach: Doug Schafer
State titles: None
Golden Eagles were 9-0 at home and overall have dropped only 20 games. … Mountain Vista has matched its overall record of a year ago. … Five different Golden Eagles have recorded at least 121 kills, topped by Alyssa Oswald’s 261. … Oswald also heads Mountain Vista with 72 aces. … Junior Amanda Keller has a team-leading 83 blocks.
Cherry Creek (21-4)
Seed: 10
Coach: Sally Moos
State titles: 1989, 4A; 1992, 6A; 1997-98, 5A; 2008, 5A)
Bruins tied with Grandview for third place behind Grandview and Arapahoe, finishing 5-2. … They won 19 of 26 sets. … Moos-led Cherry Creek has won 10 matches in succession. … Sophomore Katie Sherman has 227 kills. Next are Tate Eppard (173), Maya Borenstein (118) and Morgan Owen (102). … Daisy Schultz leads the Bruins with 39 aces and Owen is tops with 24 blocks.
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POOL 4
Chatfield (23-2)
Seed: 4
Coach: Stephanie Schick
State titles: None.
Chargers on a roll — they’ve won 19 matches in a row. … Chatfield won the 5A Jeffco League by winning 21 of 23 games. … Both losses were in succession — at Castle View on Sept. 12 and at Denver East on Sept. 14, both by 3-2 scores. … Chargers made the 2014 finale, losing to Grandview. … Senior Haley Fuller leads the Chargers with 226 kills. Sierra Bartley is close with 207. … Breanna Jones is tops on the team with 36 aces.
Chaparral (18-7)
Seed: 5
Coach: Amanda West
State titles: 2010-11, 5A
Wolverines ended runner-up to Rock Canyon in the Continental at 8-2. … MaKenna Davis has piled up 350 kills. Jasmine Schmidt, another senior, is next with 282. … Ava Larkin lead Chatfield with 52 aces and Noelle Knutson is tops with 20 blocks. … Kylie Peterson (245), Schmidt (235) and Davis (207) are team leaders in digs.
Pine Creek (18-8)
Seed: 9
Coach: Shelley Lockwood/Paul Waring
State titles: None
Eagles finished runner-up to Rampart in the C.S. Metro League, ending 5-1. … Pine Creek won its first five matches, then was 1-3. … Lindsey Jin has an Eagles-leading 235 kills. Avery Nelson (178) and Abi Wibbels (176) and right behind. … Madi Adkins leads with 43 aces and Jin has 41. … Juliet Vendl has 27 blocks.