Tournaments dominate the weekend volleyball slate with the top event hosted by Lewis Palmer.  A dozen teams are in the field and six of them are ranked in the top 10 of their respective class this week.  The remaining five have great tradition and often can be found advancing to state tournaments.

PHOTO BY PAUL DINEEN / OT SPORTSCHECK

The roster for the Saturday event includes:

  • #4 Ralston Valley (5A)
  • #9 Legend (5A)
  • #3 Thompson Valley (4A)
  • #4 Windsor (4A)
  • #5 Niwot (4A)
  • #8 Montrose (4A)
  • Pueblo West (5A)
  • Lewis Palmer (4A)
  • Coronado (4A)
  • Platte Valley (3A)
  • Bayfield (3A)
  • Centauri (3A)

Concerning the unranked teams, both Platte Valley and Bayfield have appeared in the Class 3A polls this year with Bayfield having momentum from Tuesday’s road win at #10 Montezuma Cortez.  Platte Valley is 3-3 on the season with losses to Eaton, Palmer Ridge and Longmont.  They enter the tournament off a 3-0 sweep of Patriot rival Brush.

Lewis Palmer has won three straight since pushing defending state runner-up Mead to five sets in their opener.  Their last win came at Coronado (3-0) on Tuesday.  Coronado fell to 0-2 with the loss but their other match was a five setter against 5A Doherty.

Pueblo West is 1-2 early only with losses to Pine Creek and 6th ranked Rampart.  They’re coming off a nice 3-0 sweep of Bear Creek last Thursday.

Pool matches begin at 8:30am on Saturday and there will be a total of 24 matches overall before a champion is crowned.  Teams are placed in the pools below and for cross bracketing to the semifinals, Pool #1 plays #4 and then #2 and #3 also get together.

POOL 1 POOL 2 POOL 3 POOL 4
Ralston Valley Windsor Pueblo West Legend
Centauri Bayfield Platte Valley Coronado
Thompson Valley Niwot Lewis Palmer Montrose

 

BRUINS INVITATIONAL

Cherry Creek also hosts a good field at the Bruin Invitational.  The Bruins are ranked second in Class 5A and are joined by #6 Rampart and #10 Broomfield as favorites to reach the Final Four.  Matches open at 8:00am on Saturday with the championship bracket scheduled to begin at 1:00pm.

POOL A POOL B POOL C POOL D
Cherry Creek Rampart Broomfield Heritage
Bear Creek Evergreen Chatfield Lakewood
Arvada West ThunderRidge Horizon Boulder

 

BENNETT TOURNAMENT

This is a different format as the four teams involved will play a round-robin schedule.  Sterling is the lone top 10 club on hand and will be favored but Middle Park has many state tournament appearances over the past decade.

  • 9:00am: Sterling vs Skyview
  • 10:30am: Bennett vs Middle Park
  • 12:00pm: Sterling vs Middle Park
  • 1:30pm: Bennett vs Skyview
  • 3:00pm: Skyview vs Middle Park
  • 4:30pm: Bennett vs Sterling

 

MACHEBEUF TOURNAMENT

The eight clubs on hand will be split into separate pools with winners of each pool battling for the overall championship.  Second place teams will play for third and fourth and on through the list so each team gets four matches on the day.

Pool matches start at 9:00am.  Pool B could be more difficult to advance from as DSST-Montview and Resurrection Christian are ranked fifth and sixth respectively in Class 3A this week.  Prospect Ridge also regularly finishes among the top three with Lutheran and Faith Christian inside the Metro.

POOL A POOL B
Machebeuf Prospect Ridge
Colorado Academy DSST-Montview
Regis Groff Resurrection Christian
D’Evelyn Elizabeth

 

BETHUNE INVITATIONAL

Originally scheduled for Bethune, the entire tournament has been moved to Arickaree High School for Saturday as the host Bobcats cannot compete due to a COVID quarantine.  As it stands right now, five teams are scheduled to compete including #4 Wiley and #6 Belleview Christian from Class 1A.  Idalia, Cheyenne Wells and Arickaree/Woodlin are also in the field.

The original schedule had split the teams into two three-team pools but likely has changed with Bethune forced to drop out.  We’ll update the schedule as soon as we receive.

 

REGULAR SEASON ACTION

League matches continue on Friday inside the 1A ranks as three top 10 clubs face conference opponents.  In the North Central, #3 Briggsdale looks to stay alone in first by beating Weldon Valley on the road.  #1 Fleming, which lost to Briggsdale last week, also has a league date with Fleming.

Out west, there’s a very important early season clash between #10 Olathe and Vail Christian along I-70 on Friday.  The Pirates are 7-0 on the season and the rankings for the first time this season this week.  The 2A/1A Western Slope league schedule also includes a Saturday battle between #3 Meeker and Soroco.  Both clubs will enter the match unbeaten overall.

The early 3A Intermountain league standings will continue to shuffle as #9 Pagosa Springs visits 10th ranked Montezuma Cortez on Saturday.  The Panthers are the defending league champions but were beaten at home by Bayfield on Tuesday.  Another home loss may make it difficult for them to defend their crown.  Pagosa Springs has plenty of “mo” from their tournament title in Glenwood Springs last Saturday.  This will be their first match since.

Lamar is the new number one team in Class 3A.  They’re expecting a win at Buena Vista as the Tri Peaks schedule gets underway for both clubs.

 

NOTE:  If your school hosts a tournament this weekend, we can add your schedule to the list.  Just send the schedule/brackets to [email protected].