FRIDAY TOP 10 SCOREBOARD
CLASS 1A
#8 Otis vs Weldon Valley
FINAL: #10 Stratton beat Prairie 3-0
CLASS 2A
FINAL: #1 Wiggins beat Highland 3-0
FINAL: #2 Sedgwick County beat South Platte NE 3-0
FINAL: #3 Meeker beat Coal Ridge 3-1
FINAL: #10 Limon beat Elbert 3-0
CLASS 3A
#1 Eaton vs Bayfield
FINAL: Pagosa Springs beat #8 Alamosa 3-2
#10 Liberty Common at St Mary’s
CLASS 4A
FINAL: #10 Palisade beat Steamboat Springs 3-1
CLASS 5A
FINAL: #4 Mountain Vista beat #9 Cherokee Trail 3-2
In looking at the weekend volleyball schedule, there are a couple of tournaments that stick out and both take place in the Northeast part of the state. Sites are in Kersey for the Northern Colorado Volleyball Jam and the Northeast Junior College Tournament in Sterling. Both feature qualify fields with highly ranked teams taking part.
Northern Colorado Tournament
Eaton is the actual host of the event but matches have been moved to Kersey since construction at Eaton High School and gym are still ongoing. Two defending state champions are in the field including the host Reds (3A) and Palmer Ridge (4A). Each is also ranked #1 in their respective class this week. Other ranked clubs on hand are Platte Valley, University, Discovery Canyon and Mead. For Mead, the tournament wraps up a tremendous week where they topped Lewis Palmer in five sets on Tuesday and then lost a four-set match to #9 Niwot the next night. Eaton also enters off a loss as they let slip away a 2-0 lead in a five set loss to Thompson Valley on Tuesday.
Pool 1: Palmer Ridge, Longmont, Platte Valley
Pool 2: University, Fossil Ridge, Discovery Canyon
Pool 3: Eaton, Brighton, Holy Family
Pool 4: Mead, Loveland, Bayfield
- Pool matches are scheduled for 9:00am, 10:00am and 11:00am
- Semifinals will take place at 1:00pm and 2:00pm
- Championship round for all brackets at 3:00pm
Northeastern Junior College
A third returning state champion is in action on Saturday at this event as Merino opens the 2021 season after winning the Season C crown last May. The Rams are ranked #1 in Class 1A this week and feature very talented senior Taysa Conger who has the most kills of any returning player in any class this year. Merino is joined in the field by traditional 1A power Otis (ranked 8th) along with 2A top 10’s Dayspring Christian (#6) and Holyoke (#9).
The tournament is basically a round robin where teams get to play four matches total throughout the day. Matches get underway at 9:00am and we’ve highlighted the head-to-head battles of the ranked teams on hand.
Court #1
- 9:00am: Holyoke vs Peetz
- 10:30am: Dayspring Christian vs Peetz
- 12:00pm: Holyoke vs Dayspring Christian
- 2:00pm: Holyoke vs Merino
- 3:30pm: Peetz vs Merino
- 5:00pm: Otis vs Holyoke
Court #2
- 9:00am: Merino vs Caliche
- 10:30am: Otis vs Caliche
- 12:00pm: Merino vs Otis
- 2:00pm: Peetz vs Caliche
- 3:30pm: Dayspring Christian vs Otis
- 5:00pm: Dayspring Christian vs Caliche
League Play Out West
Fans get to see the start of conference play in the 3A IML and 4A Western Slope leagues and both highlighted matches feature a top 10 club trying to bounce back from a tough loss earlier in the week. Alamosa meets Pagosa Springs on Saturday but the #8 Moose were bounced by Pueblo County 3-0 on Tuesday night. Palisade heads north to Steamboat Springs following a 3-1 loss to Montrose on Thursday. The Bulldogs, who reached the final eight last year, opened the season ranked 10th.
Pagosa Springs is 1-0 with a five-set win over 4A Durango on August 19th. Kori Lucero slammed down 10 kills and Ava Pargin added nine. Lynelle Bartz recorded four aces in the win and tied with Keira Torrez for a team high 17 digs. Audrey Martin dished out 35 assists.
Steamboat Springs is already 2-0 with wins over 3A Moffat County and Middle Park. They’ve not dropped a set in either match. Sophie Diehl had 12 kills in the opening win over Moffat County; Dani Weber finished with 32 assists and Lauren Fullerton 23 digs.
Meeker Sees First Court Activity
Ranked #1 in Class 2A to start the season, the Cowboys are one of the last teams to hit the volleyball court as they compete on both Friday and Saturday. They meet Coal Ridge on Friday and then tangle with both Dolores and Telluride at North Fork High School on Saturday. Meeker is third in the polls this week as they slipped two spots in the second set of rankings of the season.
Of course, the leader of the Meeker offense is standout sophomore Emma Luce. The Cowboys were 12-1 last year and just missed a trip to Colorado Springs and the state tournament but Luce powered down a whopping 327 kills in those matches. Her kill percentage was nearly 43 percent. Other key returnees for the Cowboys are seniors Sarah Kracht, Aspen Merrifield, Lea Knapp, Tatumn Kennedy and Savanah Mendenhall.
Coal Ridge (3A) opened 2021 by sweeping Roaring Fork 3-0 on Thursday including a dominating 25-9 performance in game one. Telluride dropped their season opener to Montezuma Cortez but pushed the highly ranked 3A club to a full five-sets. Dolores has had the same start as they were swept by Montezuma Cortez on Tuesday night.
Another Top 10 Battle in Class 5A
The fourth and final top 10 meeting in the big school ranks this week is Friday between #4 Mountain Vista and #9 Cherokee Trail. It’s the second such match for both clubs and each enters seeking their first win of the week. Mountain Vista was beaten by #2 Cherry Creek in four sets on Wednesday and the Cougars fell short to 3rd ranked Chaparral the night before. The Cougars do have a 3-0 win over ThunderRidge on their resume from week one.