DENVER – The Palmer Ridge girls volleyball team had a big hole to fill at setter coming into the 2023 season, which is often a daunting proposition.
The Bears found the solution in senior Eva LaRochelle — a converted outside hitter — who ended up orchestrating a high-powered offense that ended up earning the program’s second all-time state championship with an epic 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 17-25, 15-13 victory over Thompson Valley Saturday night at the Denver Coliseum.
LaRochelle used her weapons — namely senior Corrie Anderson and junior Amelia Hansen — as third-seeded Palmer Ridge was able to dethrone the fourth-seeded Eagles, who were hunting their third-straight state title.
“We lost one player from last year, a setter, and that was a huge piece,” said Bears coach Erica Bradley, who guided the team to a title to match win in 2020. “I’m really proud of Eva for buying in, adopting a new position and setting this team up for success. It took a lot of hard work. We had the offensive tools, but a lot was put on her shoulders.”
LaRochelle said there has been a bit of a void for the program and though she is committed to play at Seattle Pacific in her more natural position, she relished taking over in a spot that she knew would be pivotal to the team’s success.
It was a work in progress all the way to the end, but one that ended in the best way possible — with a golden trophy.
“I want to shout out Mia Hansen, when that girl is on fire, the whole team is on fire,” LaRochelle said. “She gives so much energy to this team. Corrie as well, but Corrie’s always on fire. As a setter coming from the hitting position, I’ve adopted the mentality that I’m not going to abandon a hitter after one mistake or they get blocked or make an error. When you do that, it throws off the other team and it gives the hitter confidence and when my hitters have confidence, we are unstoppable.”
Indeed, the Bears (who finished with a 23-6 record) were unstoppable at times as they played outstanding defense — led by seniors Ciara Connors and Emily Klahn — and had plenty of offense when needed.
Anderson, who came into the match with the most kills in all of 4A with 452, was on point and displayed an ability to score with a diverse arsenal, while Hansen (who sits No. 4 in 4A) also put on show at times.
It is a far cry from the beginning of the season when the communication was rough, but it gradually got better and it really began to click in the Cheyenne Mountain tournament prior to regionals.
“We were not good at the beginning of the year to be totally honest,” said Hansen, a Southern Methodist University recruit. “I had my doubts and I think we all had our doubts. But everyone worked so hard to make it work and look what we did.”
But no matter how good, the offense was clicking, Palmer Ridge still had to contend with coach Lester Thorne’s Thompson Valley team, which was on a quest for a third-straight title.
The Eagles (who finished the season with with just three losses, including one apiece to the 4A state champions and 5A state champion Valor Christian) definitely asserted themselves in the opening set, which marked their seventh-consecutive set won in championship play dating back to 2021.
Faced with two straight lost sets, however, Thompson Valley buckled down again in the fourth as Tatum Sharpe came up big in clutch moments to force the decisive fifth set.
It was tight contest from beginning to end and came down to a tie at 13-13 before Anderson came up with a kill to earn the lead, then turned around and delivered an ace to clinch the title.
“We have worked a lot on perseverance this season,” Bradley said. “We’ve had our ups and downs and we had some losses at the beginning of the season that pushed us to get better every single time. We really had to find that grit and dig deep tonight against a really good team, but we did it. It’s a surreal feeling.”