LAKEWOOD — Despite some pre-game tears, Green Mountain girls volleyball kept on racking up the Class 4A Jeffco League victories Tuesday night.
“That was emotional with Ashlynn and family here from out-of-town,” Green Mountain senior Marae Reilly said of the eight seniors being honored before their final regular-season home game which included a speech by her younger sister Ashlynn Reilly. “We just had to flip the switch and go on.”
The Rams — No. 8 in the 4A girls volleyball CHSAA Selection & Seeding Index — won their 25th straight conference game Tuesday with a 3-0 home sweep against Littleton. The victory also wrapped up a second straight season sweep in 4A Jeffco to win back-to-back league titles for the first time in the program’s history.
Photo by Dennis Pleuss/Jeffco Public Schools
“It means a lot, especially for my eight graduating seniors,” Green Mountain coach Melanie Watkins said. “I was hoping for the best at the beginning of the season. Since I had the majority of my starters coming back I was pretty confident that they would be able to put together a strong season.”
Green Mountain are on a 13-game winning streak and only dropped one set during its nine conference wins.
“I think it means a lot to this program,” Ashlynn said of the back-to-back league titles. “It hasn’t really been done before. Making history is a big deal for this program.”
Green Mountain (17-2, 9-0 in 4A Jeffco) officially clinched the league title last week with a 3-0 victory at Standley Lake. The Rams have reeled off back-to-back seasons of 9-0 league marks. The seven straight wins to end Green Mountain’s 2021 league schedule gives the program the 25 consecutive conference wins.
While it was a 25-17, 25-22, 25-16 sweep against Littleton, there were a few points of struggling for the Rams. The Lions (9-10, 4-5) held a 20-18 lead in the second set, but the Reilly sisters spearheaded the rally and senior Devon Quinn had a key ace late in the set.
“I just really wanted to have a good for Marae in the last home game with Marae,” Ashlynn said. “I think it was a good night.”
The Rams looked more like the dominating team it has been in 4A Jeffco for the last two years in the third set. Green Mountain rolled to a 25-16 win to wrap up the match and then were presented the 4A Jeffco championship plaque.
The Rams should see some tough competition at the Colorado Volleyball Invite at the World Arena in Colorado Springs on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 27 and 28, to end the regular season.
“We are super excited for this weekend,” Marae said about playing the Colorado Volleyball Invite. “We’ll go out there and play loose. We want to see how we compare to other teams. See what we can work on before we do host regionals and before it really matters.”
There is a really good chance Green Mountain will host one of the 12 4A regional tournaments Saturday, Nov. 4. The Rams hosted a regional last season, but lost to Durango in five sets. The Demons advanced to the 12-team 4A state tournament, while Green Mountain had its season come to a sudden end despite a 23-2 record.
“I think there is a fire under us,” Ashlynn said. “After going five sets with Durango last year we don’t want that again.”
Green Mountain has had a few weeks now to figure out how to reorganize with the loss of senior outside hitter Kendall Morrison, who went down with a knee injury Oct. 12. Morrison was third in kills on the team behind the Reilly sisters.
“A lot of people have steeped up, like Eva (Bellot),” Ashlynn said of replacing Morrison in the line-up. “She has stepped up moving to the outside.”
Senior Eva Bellot has moved to mainly the outside hitter spot, but Watkins believes she had the depth to allow the Rams to make a long postseason run.
“I have so many hitters in this program that if my setters can just keep moving the ball around to all the hitters we do a pretty good job across the board,” Watkins said.
