The Season D state tournament bracket for Class 5A boys volleyball is below.
All matches will be played at Rock Canyon High School. Quarterfinals will be played on June 25. Semifinals will be played at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on June 26. The championship match will begin at 2 p.m.
Tickets cannot be sold in person at Rock Canyon High School and can only be purchased online at GoFan.
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2021 CHSAA State Boys Volleyball Championships (Colorado) Boys Volleyball
A fast start gave No. 4 Erie a quick lead and the Tigers beat No. 5 Golden 17-5 to move on to the Class 4A boys lacrosse semifinals.
Athletes had a chance to tune up and better their state marks at the Rangeview track and field last chance qualifier on Friday.
No. 9 Air Academy took to the road and got a 10-9 win over No. 8 Grandview to advance to the Class 5A girls lacrosse quarterfinals.
No. 2 Valor Christian executed a steady game plan to beat No. 7 Arapahoe 8-3 and advance to Athe Class 5A boys lacrosse semifinals.
Katie Back-Howell’s monster senior season provided an historic honor for Rock Canyon High School. She was named Colorado’s softball player of the year by Gatorade on Friday, the first time a Jaguars softball player has received the honor.
Dack-Howell had a impressive senior campaign as she batted .583 with 14 home runs in just 18 games during the 2020 season.
She finished her career with 42 home runs as she launched 11 of them as a junior, seven as a sophomore and 10 as a freshman. In her junior and senior seasons she helped the Jaguars earned the No. 1 seed in the Class 5A softball state tournament.
“Katie is as close to impossible to get out as any hitter I’ve ever faced,” Chaparral coach Alan DiGiosio said. “Behind the dish, she’s the best our state has seen in a while.”
On top of her outstanding play on the softball field, she was active in her community in a variety of ways. She wrote letters of support for COVID-19 first responders during the pandemic and has volunteered with youth softball programs and initiatives to raise awareness for cancer.
A three-time first team all-state selection, Dack-Howell will continue her softball career this fall at Texas A&M. She maintained a 3.63 GPA in her time at Rock Canyon.
No. 8 Green Mountain built an early lead and rode it to a 15-8 win over No. 9 Roaring Fork in the Class 4A girls lacrosse tournament.
MANITOU SPRINGS — The Manitou Springs girls soccer team had been scored on just once all season. When Jennifer Ellis netted a goal in the first half to put Aspen up 1-0, the Skiers felt every bit of momentum.
They rode that momentum to a a 5-1 win over the No. 2 Mustangs to advance to the quarterfinals of the Class 3A girls soccer tournament.
Aspen basically had one general theory in mind from the start of the game. Keeping in mind that every team at this point in any postseason is a good team, that meant that Aspen stood just as much a chance to advance as Manitou did. Striking early and getting a lead proved crucial to proving that theory correct.
“We came into the game the way we go into every game,” coach Chris Ellis said. “We knew how we wanted to play, we knew what we wanted to do and we executed the task. We’ve trained very hard all season in preparation for these kinds of occasions.”
Controlling the tempo of the game was crucial in getting the upset win and getting the first goal was the key piece in getting that control.
After both sides spent time feeling each other out, it was the Skiers (7-3-1 overall) struck first on a goal from Jennifer Ellis. Putting the Mustangs (10-1) on their heels early changed the entire feel of the game.
“It makes them very uncomfortable,” she said. “I think it’s quite shocking for them to go down that quickly when they’ve given up just one goal all season.”
And it was far from the last that the Mustangs would give up on the night.
Aspen kept pressing offensively and seemingly got every bounce as Zea Anderson made it 2-0 by chipping the ball over Manitou keeper Caroline Meastas.
It took less than two minutes into the second half for the Skiers to add a third goal and stretch out the lead. Rather than sit on a two-goal lead going into the final 40 minutes, they decided to continue pressing the attack.
“It’s important but it’s also fun,” Anderson said. “We wanted to get more goals and keep racking it up and keep up that pressure. It’s more about the fun of the game and the beauty of the game.”
And when the result is a win over the No. 2 team in the tournament, it can make for a fun bus ride home.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Anderson said. “I’m excited to have fun with my teammates and to celebrate a win.”
The Mustangs avoided the shutout as Sophie McKeown netted a goal late in the second half, but the game was well out of reach at that point.
The Skiers won’t have long to celebrate as they’ll head to Denver on Saturday to take on Colorado Academy.
EVERGREEN — Two first-half goals is all Evergreen needed offensively Wednesday night to advance to the Class 4A girls soccer state quarterfinals.
The No. 2-seeded Cougars (11-0 record) got goals from senior Jocelin Zimmerer (18th minute) and junior Catherine Rapp (27th minute) on the way to a 2-0 shutout victory against No. 15 Northfield.
“My teammate (Lily Maus) played me a great ball in the middle,” Zimmerer said. “I just made a touch forward and took the shot.”
Zimmerer tucked her shot just under the crossbar to give the Cougars the early lead. Evergreen extended the lead to 2-0 less than 10 minutes later with a brilliant connection from senior Myla Stewart to one of the Cougars’ Rapp triplets — Catherine.
Stewart lofted a centering pass from the right wing to Catherine Rapp, who headed the ball past Northfield senior goalie Veda Miles.
“I actually watched the Italy game during Euro 2020 today. The guys play like that,” Stewart said of sending the aerial pass to Catherine Rapp. “I know the (triplets) love header crosses. We are taught to play it on the ground, but this one had to go in the air. It was incredible.”
Evergreen controlled the majority of play holding onto a 2-0 lead before halftime, but couldn’t get a third goal.
Unfortunately for the Cougars the most noticeable news of the scoreless second half was Evergreen junior goalie Aubrey Huerta receiving a red card for handling a ball outside the goal box in the 56th minute.
“It’s a mandatory red card,” Evergreen coach Peter Jeans said of Huerta grabbing the ball outside the goal box. “It is what it is. The player learns a lesson on how to handle that a little differently, but the good news is we made adjustments and we were still carry the game.”
Jeans actually turned to Evergreen’s leading scorer — Stewart — to finish the final 24 minutes in goal for the Cougars. It wasn’t a total surprise to Stewart, who said that she had practiced in goal earlier this year when Huerta was injured.
“I was actually running over the to the referee to have her explain the call,” Stewart said after Huerta’s red card. “Peter (Jeans) looked at me and told me to put the gloves on. I’ll do whatever it takes to get the team where we need to be.”
Stewart faced one legit scoring chance for Northfield, but the Nighthawks put a direct free kick over the net following the red card.
“Everyone knew their first job was the clear the ball,” Zimmerer said of the team’s mindset after the red card. “We did that the entire time and they didn’t get any chances on goal.”
Evergreen continued to put pressure on Miles despite Stewart not able to lead the offensive charge up top for the Cougars. The Nighthawks (8-3) were able to keep the Cougars from scoring in the second half mainly due to a handful of great saves to Miles.
“Hats off to (Northfield),” Jeans said. “They really made us have to play a full 80-minute game and I felt like our girls did that.”
The dilemma Evergreen has now is playing its state quarterfinal match Saturday against No. 10 Steamboat Springs without Huerta in net. A one-game suspension comes with the red card.
“It’s a huge challenge,” Jeans said of playing without Huerta. “We’ll have our work cutout for us. We are going to have to figure out a game-plan and shift some players around.”
Stewart believes there is a good chance she will be back in net against Steamboat Springs, who defeated No. 7 Durango 2-1 on Wednesday night, but the senior captain said all options will be poured over.
“I’m confident we can keep the ball away from our defensive half,” Zimmerer said of the Cougars, who have given up just four goals in 11 games this season. “We’ll be fine. Hopefully we’ll have Aubrey back for the semis.”
Class 3A No. 4 Jefferson Academy earned a trip to the girls soccer quarterfinals with a 9-0 win over DSST Byers on Wednesday.