HIGHLANDS RANCH — Following two five-set losses to open the season, Mountain Vista notched its first win of the year with a sweep of Grand Junction, 25-15, 25-15, 25-15.
Six different Golden Eagles had at least four kills, led by sophomore Alyssa Oswald, who had six. Katie Ireland had 24 assists, six digs and five kills.
ELIZABETH — Douglas County won the inaugural Early Bird Tournament hosted by Elizabeth on Saturday.
AURORA — Melanie Patenaude had 18 kills as fourth-ranked Cherry Creek swept Arvada West in volleyball on Friday, 25-17, 25-16, 25-17.
Shea Reilly added 12 digs and an ace, while Daisy Schultz had 20 assists.
HIGHLANDS RANCH — Valor Christian’s Lindsey Heller finished with an eye-popping 51 assists as her team beat Regis Jesuit in volleyball on Wednesday.
In a battle of 10th-ranked teams, Class 4A Valor Christian beat 5A Regis Jesuit in five sets, with Valor winning 23-25, 28-26, 23-25, 26-24, 15-10.
Kelsey Montgomery and Cassidy Wurth each had 14 kills for Valor. Kyleigh McDaniel added 11, while Megan Moritz had 10. Savannah Cressman finished with 27 digs.
Santaisha Sturges had 26 kills, 24 digs and seven blocks for Regis. Taylor Smith had 19 kills, 17 digs and four assists.
CENTENNIAL — Tylerann Cairns, Madison Courtney and Jayden Liberty each had nine kills as No. 8 Arapahoe swept Rock Canyon in volleyball on Tuesday. Final set scores were 25-16, 26-24, 25-9.
Cairns also had three aces and three blocks, while Meredith Corder had 18 digs and four aces. Petra Sikorski finished with 27 assists.
Tori Macaluso and Keeley Davis paced Rock Canyon with seven kills apiece.
Chaparral and Regis Jesuit both joined this week’s CHSAANow.com volleyball ranking in Class 5A.
Both teams were unranked in the preseason. Chaparral joined the poll at No. 5 after going 4-1 over the first two weeks of the season. Regis Jesuit, meanwhile, is No. 10 after going 3-2.
Rampart remained atop the 5A ranking. In fact, the only No. 1 team to change this week was in 3A, where Eaton takes over for Manitou Springs. Lewis Palmer (4A), Resurrection Christian (2A) and Fleming (1A) all held firm in their respective top spots.
Mullen (No. 9) was the lone newcomer in 4A, while Gunnison (No. 10) joined 3A. The 2A poll added Swink (No. 6) and Hoehne (No. 9). Cheraw joined 1A at No. 10.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, polls will be released each Monday.
Complete rankings for all classes are below.
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Voted upon by coaches and media members around the state. New voters can sign up by emailing rcasey@chsaa.org. These rankings have no bearing on postseason seeding.
| Class 5A | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS |
| 1 | Rampart (7) | 1-0 | 94 | 1 |
| 2 | Grandview (1) | 1-0 | 87 | 4 |
| 3 | Fossil Ridge (1) | 1-0 | 75 | 3 |
| 4 | Cherry Creek | 1-0 | 68 | 5 |
| 5 | Chaparral (1) | 4-1 | 53 | – |
| 6 | Cherokee Trail | 0-1 | 45 | 2 |
| 7 | Pine Creek | 1-0 | 41 | 6 |
| 8 | Arapahoe | 4-1 | 30 | 9 |
| 9 | Eaglecrest | 0-1 | 23 | 7 |
| 10 | Regis Jesuit | 3-2 | 10 | – |
| Others receiving votes: | ||||
| Rock Canyon 9, Castle View 6, Highlands Ranch 6, Monarch 5, Legend 3, Mountain Vista 3, Douglas County 2, Lakewood 1. | ||||
| Dropped out | ||||
| Legend (8), Mountain Vista (10). | ||||
| Class 4A | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS |
| 1 | Lewis-Palmer (9) | 1-0 | 90 | 1 |
| 2 | Cheyenne Mountain | 1-0 | 74 | 4 |
| 3 | Ponderosa | 0-0 | 66 | 2 |
| 4 | Air Academy | 0-1 | 55 | 3 |
| 5 | Elizabeth | 0-0 | 39 | 5 |
| 6 | Pueblo West | 0-1 | 37 | 8 |
| 7 | Montrose | 1-0 | 35 | 7 |
| 8 | Longmont | 0-0 | 32 | 6 |
| 9 | Mullen | 2-0 | 19 | – |
| 10 | Valor Christian | 1-1 | 16 | 9 |
| Others receiving votes: | ||||
| Thomas Jefferson 10, Windsor 10, Roosevelt 5, Steamboat Springs 3, Woodland Park 3, Holy Family 2, Niwot 2. | ||||
| Dropped out | ||||
| Thomas Jefferson (10). | ||||
| Class 3A | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS |
| 1 | Eaton (7) | 2-0 | 97 | 2 |
| 2 | Manitou Springs (3) | 0-0 | 89 | 1 |
| 3 | Valley | 3-0 | 80 | 4 |
| 4 | Platte Valley | 2-0 | 62 | 5 |
| 5 | Bayfield | 1-1 | 61 | 3 |
| 6 | University | 0-1 | 36 | 6 |
| 7 | Sterling | 1-2 | 26 | 7 |
| 8 | Lutheran | 2-4 | 21 | 8 |
| 9 | Colorado Springs Christian | 0-0 | 16 | 10 |
| 10 | Gunnison | 0-1 | 12 | – |
| Others receiving votes: | ||||
| Pagosa Springs 10, Coal Ridge 9, St. Mary’s 8, Machebeuf 6, Lamar 5, Faith Christian 4, Frontier Academy 4, Centaurus 1, Grand Valley 1, Olathe 1, The Academy 1. | ||||
| Dropped out | ||||
| St. Mary’s (9). | ||||
| Class 2A | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS |
| 1 | Resurrection Christian (3) | 1-0 | 48 | 1 |
| 2 | Lyons | 1-0 | 40 | 2 |
| 3 | Yuma | 1-0 | 35 | 7 |
| 4 | Akron | 2-1 | 33 | 3 |
| 5 | Caliche | 2-0 | 32 | 8 |
| 6 | Swink (2) | 4-0 | 28 | – |
| 7 | Fowler | 2-1 | 17 | 4 |
| 8 | Paonia | 0-0 | 15 | 9 |
| 9 | Hoehne | 3-0 | 8 | – |
| 10 | Dayspring Christian | 0-0 | 6 | 10 |
| Others receiving votes: | ||||
| Ridgway 5, Rye 4, Meeker 3, Vail Christian 1. | ||||
| Dropped out | ||||
| Meeker (5), Ridgway (6). | ||||
| Class 1A | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RK | TEAM | W-L | PTS | PVS |
| 1 | Fleming (4) | 1-0 | 49 | 1 |
| 2 | Otis | 1-0 | 44 | 3 |
| 3 | Sangre de Cristo (1) | 0-0 | 41 | 2 |
| 4 | Idalia | 1-0 | 36 | 4 |
| 5 | Eads | 1-1 | 28 | 5 |
| 6 | Flagler | 2-0 | 25 | 6 |
| 7 | Kit Carson | 2-0 | 17 | 7 |
| 8 | Hi-Plains | 0-1 | 13 | 8 |
| 9 | Weldon Valley | 1-1 | 11 | 9 |
| 10 | Cheraw | 1-0 | 5 | – |
| Others receiving votes: | ||||
| Liberty/Stratton 3, Edison 2, Rocky Mountain Lutheran 1. | ||||
| Dropped out | ||||
| Edison (10). | ||||
HIGHLANDS RANCH — Down 2-0 in sets, Cherry Creek volleyball rallied to beat Mountain Vista in five sets on Tuesday. The final was 21-25, 15-25, 26-24, 25-22, 15-12.
AURORA — Eaglecrest, Grandview, Cheyenne Mountain, Ponderosa, Rangeview and Columbine scrimmaged during the Raptor Rally on Friday afternoon.
BROOMFIELD — The Broomfield Eagles volleyball team won Thursday’s home non-conference match against Pomona by a score of 3-0 (25-17, 25-20 and 25-19).
Last fall Eaton’s volleyball team entered the Class 3A state tournament with only one loss under its belt, and the Reds promptly dominated their first two opponents in pool play.
But it was a five-set marathon with Holy Family in the state semis that really set the tone for what was to come. Eaton saw the Tigers drop the first two games, only to rally and take the next two before narrowly pulling out the fifth and deciding game.
That evening Eaton took the lesson to heart and swept Manitou Springs to claim the state title, avenging the team’s only defeat of the 2013 season.
“It was pretty emotional. I think we worked extremely hard and peaked at the right time,” Reds coach Gwen Forster said. “Holy Family is a great program, and by no means can you ever count a team out. When we went five with them, the girls realized it was not going to be an easy road to a state championship.”
Reigning 3A player of the year Kortney Lockey recorded 17 kills in the final against Manitou Springs. The University of Northern Colorado-bound senior is eager to get back into the gym and start working toward a third title in four years.
“It’s like being on cloud nine having a state championship. It’s definitely one of the best memories I’ve ever had,” she said. “It makes you want to have a recurrence.”
Though the Reds are ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll, Eaton won’t exactly have it easy trying to defend that title this fall. The Reds graduated three all-state performers, including a pair of setters in Ryleigh Haynes and Karen Sigg and libero Britt Pierce.
Lockey and junior Caiden Rexius return, along with Tarynn Sieg and Lindy Dixon in the middle.
“I have a great group of juniors who are extremely hungry and have grown tremendously,” Forster said. “It’s tough for us to lose our two setters — it’s kind of like the quarterback of the football team — but this team is not going to settle for anything less than the best.
“That role is going to be tough for anyone that takes it on, but we’ve got kids who have the capability of doing it.”
Lockey finished with 380 kills, 335 digs and 53 aces as a junior. She put together 24 kills and 17 digs in the marathon with Holy Family.
“She’s a great kid. She’s coming off an injury, but she’s got the mind-set that regardless of what happens she wants to play,” Forster said. “She definitely wants to win another state ball. It gives me chills to see the amount of passion that comes out of that kid.”
Choosing UNC was an easy choice for Lockey, who will get to stay in Greeley.
“I really wanted to play at the Division I level and I wanted to stay close to home,” she said. “Lyndsey (Oates) is a great coach. Their coaching staff is awesome and their program feels like a family almost.”
Manitou Springs will be a tough out once more after graduating only three seniors from a one-loss team. The Mustangs return a trio of all-state talent in juniors Nicole Mack, Katie McKiel and Angala Jensen.
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Defending champion: Eaton
Runner-up: Manitou Springs
Returning All-State players: Cori Aafedt, Sr., Valley (1st team); Kinzie Chrisman, Sr., Sterling (2nd); Emily Dellenbach, Sr., Valley (1st); Kirstie Hillyer, Sr., Bayfield (2nd); Blayke Hranika, Sr., Holy Family (2nd); Angala Jensen, Jr., Manitou Springs (2nd); Kortney Lockey, Sr., Eaton (1st); Nicole Mack, Jr., Manitou Springs (1st); Katie McKiel, Jr., Manitou Springs (1st); Caiden Rexius, Jr., Eaton (2nd); Abby Skrastins, Jr., Colorado Springs Christian (2nd).
Regular Season begins: Aug. 21
Playoffs: Regionals completed by Nov. 1
Championship: Nov. 7-8 at Denver Coliseum