DENVER – Familiarity certainly would have seemed to work in Ignacio’s favor when the Volleycats were reseeded into the 2025 2A state championships bracket.
Not that being given No. 10 assured Jennifer Seibel’s squad of an easy skate, but the on-paper company the ’Cats would keep at least bade them well: IHS squared off Thursday afternoon against vaunted Sedgwick County – last year’s state champion – with the winner set to face Denver Christian later that evening. Ignacio lost its opening state championship match 3-1 to Sedgwick County
Able to fight through five ties-of-score early in Set 3 and build up a 12-8 lead, Ignacio lost the advantage after SC sophomore Daryn Nein downed back-to-back kills, putting the Cougars on track to retie at 13-all. The lead then changed hands rapidly, and IHS re-tied at 16-16 when SC junior Piper Buettenback netted an attack.
Buettenback then tooled a kill off Volleycat junior Maliyah Martinez, and Martinez followed by sending an attack long. SC junior Ryen Carlson zipped a kill down the far line, and after Martinez netted another attack Seibel used a timeout with the ’Cats trailing 20-16. Sedgwick County skipper Alissa Renquist called a preemptive timeout not long after, though SC still maintained a 22-19 lead, and senior Lainee Nein responded by drilling a kill.
Sophomore Addison Renquist then netted a serve, but SedgCo reached match point, 24-20, when the elder Nein managed to push a tip shot past IHS sophomore Alleah Neil, and secured a 25-8, 25-12, 25-20 sweep when, after a short but exciting exchange between the teams, Lainee Nein smashed down a cross-court set provided not by Carlson, but senior right-side Gracie Amendt.
Amendt had sewn up Set 2 – in which the ’Cats; led 5-3 before consecutive Lainee Nein aces regained a lead SedgCo wouldn’t again lose – with a cross-court spike seconds after Daryn Nein aced Martinez to bring up set point, 24-12. In Set 1 IHS managed to stay close early, but after closing to 6-5, saw SC speed away with a 9-0 run keyed by back-to-back Amendt aces and a Carlson kill through IHS junior setter Kelly Sirios’ block.
The first song piped through the Denver Coliseum’s sound system during the hour preceding Day 2 action at the 2025 2A state championships was Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ 1989 “Runnin’ Down a Dream.”
With the stakes elevated even higher for teams in every classification, it was an apt selection.
Unfortunately for Ignacio’s Volleycats, their supreme dream wasn’t fulfilled. After falling to Sedgwick County, IHS’ stellar season ended Friday morning with a four-set loss to 2024 state runner-up Wiggins in the consolation bracket
Rested and recovered from a 14-25, 22-25, 18-25 loss on Day 1 to top-seeded Simla, the No. 8 Tigers had to shake off a disappointing first set against No. 10 IHS, which traded points evenly from the outset until gaining a 7-6 edge when Martinez willed a service ace through the top of the net.
Taking the gift and running with it, the ’Cats grew their lead to 13-9 and, with junior libero Tarah Baker holding serve, increased it to a solid 19-10.
A 5-0 burst kept Wiggins alive, but errors allowed Ignacio to rebuild the lead to 22-15, then later reach set point via a Martinez ace of sophomore Kynley Yzaguirre, and ultimately lock up a 1-0 match lead via junior Lainee Bradley’s kill off of senior CharlieAnn Barrett.
“We were really humbled by yesterday’s game, so we all were just very hungry and came to play,” said Sirios, who began Set 2 on serve before WHS went wire-to-wire for a 25-16 win leveling the contest at a set apiece.
The Tigers then broke out to a 4-1 lead in Set 3 before Ignacio dug in and tied the score at 6-6. The ’Cats then went up 9-8 as part of a 5-0 run pressing Kerr into using a timeout. But IHS’ lead steadily grew to 17-14 before Wiggins, ignited by a kill courtesy of junior middle Tenleigh Lorenzini, won eight of the next nine points and surged ahead, 22-18.
WHS then reached set point, 24-19, via a kill by senior Brooke Schmidt, but junior libero Kellie Vicchrilli then netted a tip shot – and inadvertently set in motion perhaps IHS’ best comeback this fall. Moments later, Schmidt sailed an attack long and Kerr burned her second timeout of the set with Wiggins still up 24-22, but IHS senior Juliann Avila would block Yzaguirre not long after to retie the set at 24-24.
Bradley then downed a kill, suddenly putting the ’Cats on set point, but after the Tigers somehow fielded a solid Sirios serve, senior Kallie Green stopped Ignacio’s dramatic 6-0 run with a successful set dump. Neil then rejected Schmidt, but sophomore Karsyn Kerr kept WHS alive with a kill after Bradley served.
Lorenzini then tipped a ball out of bounds, but a net violation called against Ignacio overshadowed two spectacular Baker digs and gave the Tigers yet another chance – of which they’d at last take full advantage. Martinez netted a defensive free ball, putting Wiggins on set point at 28-27, and sophomore Jaydin Busch then split diving ’Cats Bradley and Baker with an ace.
But the ’Cats still had life and took a 3-1 lead in Set 4 via back-to-back Bradley aces of Karsyn Kerr, who was quickly – and smartly – substituted out before Bradley could strike again. Her next serve, however, went long, and two more Ignacio errors gave WHS a 4-3 lead. Senior Saria Hawkins then served wide of the far sideline, but a recharged Kerr then scored a go-ahead kill over IHS senior Alyssa Atencio, putting Vicchrilli on serve.
A Kerr tip over Atencio kept her there, a vicious Lorenzini kill through IHS’ center followed, and Vicchrilli would hold serve until Busch netted an attack – giving the Volleycats ball in hand with the scoreboard showing Wiggins 18, Ignacio 5.
The Tigers reached match point, 24-9, via an Yzaguirre kill off Sirios’ block, and though Schmidt then tipped a ball out of bounds, there’d be no second sterling comeback for IHS as Yzaguirre punctuated WHS’ 19-25, 25-16, 29-27, 25-10 victory with a kill off junior Reggi Gustafson’s block.
“We got them out of system a lot and that allowed us to really amp it up,” said Sirios. “We just allowed our mental side to get to us; we just need to stay humble, instead of getting humbled.”
Now 57-24 overall in boss Jennifer Seibel’s three years at the helm, the 2025 ’Cats went out standing 21-6 overall.
Wiggins (20-8 overall), meanwhile, advanced to face 11-seed Vail Christian in the day’s scheduled 5 p.m. match.
