EATON — This is a special era for Colorado volleyball.
A season ago, Lewis-Palmer not only claimed their second straight Class 4A state title — finishing with an unblemished record of 29-0, and dropping only five sets (83-5) the entire year — but they also became the first program in state history to win a national championship as they closed the season No. 1 in MaxPreps’ national rankings.
The Rangers had a season of unmatched dominance nationally for a Colorado team. State-wide, they were just the tip of the iceberg as every classification’s champion, Fleming in 1A, Resurrection Christian in 2A, Eaton in 3A, and Grandview in 5A, joined L-P as repeat winners.
The superpowers have continued to be as potent as ever this year.
That includes the Eaton Fightin’ Reds. Want proof?
Eaton — the two-time defending state champions, winners of three of four titles, and currently the No. 1 ranked team — didn’t drop a single set in their first eight matches. When they did, it was to 5A Fossil Ridge, who they handled 3-1, and then to Cheyenne Mountain, the No. 3 team in this week’s CHSAANow Class 4A rankings, who they also defeated 3-1. Oh, and Eaton’s victory over CM gave them the Eaglecrest Tournament championship.
On Tuesday, the Reds hosted Platte Valley, an old Patriot League foe who just so happens to be ranked No. 2 in 3A. The Broncos have 14 volleyball crowns, more than any other program in history. Eaton, despite pressure from a talented opponent, blitzed their rivals 25-16 in the first set, 25-21 in the second, and came back from down 5-1 early in the third to run away with a 25-14 victory. They had a clean sweep.
The Reds moved to 11-0 on the season and 5-0 in the Patriot, a league that has produced the past five champions in 3A. After graduating Kortney Lockey, a two-time player of the year and Northern Colorado signee, Eaton still has a habit of winning. They say it’s part of the culture.
“We have a saying,” Tarynn Sieg, a junior middle hitter, noted. “It’s called, ‘Empty your tank.’ Everything we have is on every single play. Our end goal is state, but we know we have to work for every point every time. We just push each other to the next level on every play.”
“In our culture, it’s about being disciplined and playing each match like it’s your last and learning from each match,” Eaton coach Gwen Forster added.
The Reds are rolling and it’s nothing new as they’ve won 66 of 68 matches since the start of the 2013 season. It’s not hard to see why they are heavy favorites for a third straight championship with returning all-state players like Sieg, Caiden Rexius, Chelsey Lockey, and Bailey Schumacher, not to mention dominant hitters and plenty of depth. But, Forster knows nothing is ever a given in sports.
“Each year it’s so unpredictable,” she said. “Anybody can lose. We don’t expect to continue to have a perfect season. We expect somebody to challenge us and take something away from us for us to understand how much better we need to be.”
“We have to fight every game, every point, every match, and we know it’s going to be just as hard as the other years,” Rexius, the Eaglecrest tournament MVP and a senior who has stepped into the spotlight admirably, noted.
Nonetheless, Forster is pleased with not only the results, but the demeanor of her team thus far.
“We’ve always had the same kind of work ethic,” she said. “They go hard and expect a lot from each other. It’s paid dividends for us.”
