Some of the top programs across the state collide in attractive non-league matches this week and there’s also the start of conference play with some high level pairings. We look at the best matches set for the week in the state’s largest three volleyball decisions.
CLASS 3A
Montezuma Cortez at Alamosa (Saturday)
A quick rematch for the two Intermountain League rivals as they meet for a second time just seven days after playing a five set classic. Alamosa used experience from their state tournament run in 2018 to rally from two sets to one down in beating the Panthers in Cortez last Saturday. Myka Glover dropped in 19 kills in the loss for Cortez and Avery Wright added eight. Leigha Comisky also paced the Panthers with 35 assists. The win was the first in league play for the Moose who ran the table on the way to the conference championship last Fall.
Faith Christian at Eaton (Tuesday)
It’s the first of two rugged matches for the Eagles this week as they also tangle with Platte Valley on Thursday. This is also the first of three very attractive pairings between the Metro and Patriot leagues on tap this week.
Faith Christian is 5-0 but has played just one top program as they beat Resurrection Christian 3-0 to open the season. The Eagles then ran through an outmatched roster of opponents to capture the Jefferson Academy tourney title on Saturday. Against Rez, Caty Havekost netted 10 kills and Makenna Hachen had eight. Allure Padilla had 31 assists and five aces. The Eagles overall had 10 aces.
Eaton is coming off a 3-1 showing at the Eaglecrest tournament where they moved past 5A Fossil Ridge and Brighton along with 4A ranked Cheyenne Mountain. The lone loss came against 5A Pine Creek. Sydney Leffler (62 kills) and Abbey Hays (47) lead the offense and Andie Anderson directs those two with 110 assists. Delaney Oschner leads defenders with 86 digs.
Platte Valley at Faith Christian (Thursday)
The Broncos dropped their season record to 4-3 with a 1-3 showing the Lewis Palmer tournament on Saturday. Their schedule was difficult as they came up short to 4A opponents Montrose, Pueblo West and Thompson Valley. They did get a win over another team in the 4A Top 10 as they downed Niwot.
Offensively, the Broncos are led by the 1-2 combination of Kassandra Shoemaker and Brooke Bunting with 44 kills apiece. Claire Smith has 37. Shoemaker and Smith have 57 and 55 digs respectively while Cora Schissler tops the team with 176 assists.
Lutheran at University (Thursday)
The Lions expect to land another Metro championship while University hopes to again be in the mix for the Patriot title. Lutheran (2-0) has won their first two matches without the services of Payton Brgoch. The returning Player of the Year has not played this year but coach Alicia Oates told Colorado Preps today that Brgoch should be back in the lineup next week. The Lions open conference action against Machebeuf on the 24th and won’t face Faith Christian until October 15th.
University has played a strong schedule. They’ve recorded good wins over Lamar and Fort Morgan with losses to Colorado Springs Christian, Windsor and Holy Family. Kylie Williams (68) has nearly twice as many kills as any teammate. Seven players have at least 10 digs so it’s group effort on defense. Logan Conlin (82 assists) and Aliyah Hernandez (51) both see time at setter.
Valley at Resurrection Christian (Saturday)
Want to note that this is a non-conference game as the two Patriot members collide again on October 24th. Resurrection Christian went 3-1 at the Machebeuf tournament; winning their final three after dropping game one to Prospect Ridge. Valley was also involved in tournament action over the weekend; splitting four games at Lewis Palmer. Delaney Eckhardt continues to post impressive numbers as she leads the Vikings with 95 kills and 93 diggs and is also second with 76 assists.
CLASS 4A
Frederick at Mead (Tuesday)
Each team has just one loss on the season and both expect to challenge for the Tri Valley championship along with Holy Family and Windsor.
It’s already been a great week for Mead as the Mavericks took over the top spot in the 4A rankings for the first time since the high school reopened. Their only loss is against 2A Denver Christian but the Thunder have been the number one team in Class 2A the entire season. They have just one match last week; outlasting Thompson Valley 3-2.
Frederick has played just one top 10 opponent and that resulted in their only loss as they fell to Skyline (2-0) at the Thornton tournament. The Falcons are ranked 7th this week. Sophomore Kinley Lindhardt leads the Warriors with 60 kills and totaled 15 kills as a freshman in two matches vs Mead last year. Frederick though took just one set from Mead in those two meetings.
Niwot at Silver Creek (Tuesday)
Another early season conference meeting that could eventually determine the top spot in the Northern chase. It’s the first of two meetings and they enter with identical 2-0 league marks and tied with Thompson Valley in first.
Both clubs have beaten Centaurus and Northridge in league play and all four matches were quick three-setters. Niwot though failed to win any of their three matches at the Lewis Palmer tournament falling to Centauri, Platte Valley and Ralston Valley. The Cougars were 25-4 last season but lost five of their top six hitters including Emma Falk (355 kills). Also gone to graduation were three key defenders and seter Madison Schoeder (700 plus assists).
Silver Creek split four matches at their own tournament last Saturday. Caitlin Volkman leads the Raptors with 101 kills and is widely considered one of the top hitters in any class. Olivia Nelson has added 133 assists.
Pueblo County at Cheyenne Mountain (Tuesday)
This is the first of two quality meetings between the South Central and Pikes Peak leagues. It will be followed by the Thursday match between Pueblo West and Discovery Canyon.
County has won seven in a row following an opening loss to Coronado. Their best win came against Discovery Canyon (2-1) behind stellar hitting of Sammy Meehan (14 kills) and Kinley Gomez (13). Rylan Scott had 28 assists while Meehan and Mari Benitez finished with 13 digs apiece.
Cheyenne Mountain (4-3) is just one game above five hundred but as always, they’ve faced some of the best teams Colorado has to offer. Losses are against Chaparral and Mountain Vista from 5A and Eaton in 3A. Sophomore Karlee Pinell tops the Indians with 56 kills and junior Emma Delich is next with 47 kills. Madison Fox has 66 digs and Kaelin Coe 74 assists.
Pueblo West at Discovery Canyon (Thursday)
One could make the case that the Pueblo West win over Lewis Palmer was their best win in school history. The Cyclones, until finishing second last year, had dominated the South Central league for almost a decade but the impressive wins outside the conference were hard to find until last week. Reagan Emery picked up eight kills and Bella Adams seven in the win. Emery and Taylor Skoglund each had three aces. Teyah Duran dished out 13 assists and Paige Botz had 11 digs.
For Discovery Canyon, this is their final tune-up for what will be a brutal schedule through the Pikes Peak league. Once there, they will meet Lewis Palmer, Cheyenne Mountain and Palmer Ridge. The Thunder are coming off a five set win over Thomas Jefferson. Leah Lester had 14 kills and Paityn Kramer 13 in that victory.
Coronado at Cheyenne Mountain (Thursday)
The Indians face another tough opponent just two days after tangling with Pueblo County. Coronado (4-3) is much like Cheyenne Mountain as they’ve also faced a very strong list of opponents. All seven are either in the Top 10 this week or have been at some point of the season. Wins are against Pueblo County, Castle View, Silver Creek and Palmer Ridge and losses to Lewis Palmer, Mountain Vista and Sterling. They feature excellent depth up front with Maycie Rogers (38 kills), Stacia Smith (27), Caroline Risenhoover (27), Amara Austin (24) and Makayla Brown (20).
CLASS 5A
Cherry Creek at Grandview (Thursday)
This appealing matchup starts off the schedule in what should be another banner year inside the Centennial. Creek (7-0) won the league championship last year and finished two games up on Cherokee Trail, Grandview and Eaglecrest. Those four teams should again face-off for the title and Mullen (4A) is also improved.
Katerine Von Kraut (100 kills) leads a balanced Bruins attack. Cali Clark is next with 66. Talia Borenstein has 230 assists for a team that is coming off a second place finish at their own tournament. They fell to unbeaten and now ranked Broomfield in the finals.
Grandview looks to bounce back from a tough 3-2 loss to Ponderosa. It was a frustrating loss as the Wolves could not finish after building a two sets to one advantage. Ponderosa then won games four and five 25-20 and 15-5. Elsa Lamphere topped Grandview with 23 kills and Aylse Coverly totaled 11. Nicole Yakushenok added 39 assists.
A second match of note in the conference on Thursday pits Eaglecrest at Mullen.
Chaparral at Ponderosa (Tuesday)
Ponderosa has little time to celebrate their win over Grandview as they must open Continental play against pre-season number one Chaparral. The Wolverines are winners of three straight since a five-set loss to Legend. Last week, they blew past traditional 4A powers Lewis Palmer and Cheyenne Mountain; both wins comign in straight weeks.
The Ponderosa match is the first of two quick tests to open league play for the Wolves. They also battle Mountain Vista on Wednesday. Neither is ranked but both easily could be.
Abbey Telesz was the difference as Ponderosa got the win over Grandview. She led the team in assists (27) and digs (16) and also finished second in kills (11). Danielle Magyar, with 12 kills, was the top hitter and Jordyn Miller matched Telesz with 11.
Palmer Ridge at Rampart (Thursday)
No team has made a quicker rise up the rankings than Rampart. Unranked to open the season, the Rams are now ranked second and received four first place votes this week. The main reason for the jump is their 3-0 sweep of Legend last week. The Titans were ranked third at the time. Riley Simpson finished with 16 kills and Caitlyn Kincaid had eight. Grace Wilkinson picked up 19 digs and Anjelina Starch 10. Ashlyn Phair handed out 31 assists.
Palmer Ridge went 3-1 at the Silver Creek falling to Coronado. Riley Anderson (78 kills) and Olivia Parsley (55) are the first two options at the net while freshman Kyra Kisting, with 246 assists on the season, does a great job of getting them the ball. Parsley tops the defense with 68 digs.
Lewis Palmer at Cherokee Trail (Tuesday)
Just last week, this would have been a battle of number one teams as Cherokee Trail held the top spot in 5A and the Rangers were atop the 4A division. The Cougars maintained top billing this week but Lewis Palmer dropped to fourth due to a 2-2 mark their own tournament last week. The Rangers though still received two first place votes and will be in the state championship discussion again by the end of the year.
The 4-3 record is a bit unusual for a team that had just one loss in the previous three years combined. They last lost four matches in one year in 2015 (25-4).
Cherokee Trail has split two matches with Legend and beaten Chaparral, Grandview and Chaparral. Sydney Cole seems to be their leader as the senior has 33 aces and 269 assists to lead the team in both categories. She had a season high 44 assists vs Chatfield and served up seven aces in the win over Grandview.
Amaya Messier (111 kills) leads the offensive attack and Kealy Marshall (108 digs) is the organizer on defense.
