EDWARDS – When Vail Christian’s Jessie Allen began the third and last Region VI match serving the Saints to a 9-0 lead against Lake County, it was evident their prayers of Ignacio tenderizing LCHS in the preceding contest had been answered.
Needing help from the Leadville-based Panthers – whom they’d just defeated 25-19, 17-25, 25-22, 25-11 – to have an outside chance at qualifying for the 2022 CHSAA State Championships, the Volleycats didn’t need to remain inside VCHS’ Thomas Morgan Wheeler Arts & Athletic Center long to realize they’d left LCHS lacking enough fuel to burn.
Minus two key players, LCHS skipper Sean Sprague’s shaken squad soldiered on but succumbed 25-13, 25-17, 25-8 to the tourney-hosting Vail Christian – which clinched outright the Denver Coliseum trip.
Afterward, Vail Christian head coach Adina Petersmeyer implied her team’s late dominance Friday had materialized as a direct result of surviving the event’s 11 a.m. opener against, yep, Ignacio.
“You always expect that everybody’s going to bring their A-game,” she said. “But Ignacio ripped apart our deep corners, cut some hard angles, and really threw us some quality volleyball. That forced us to really slow down and set up our offense.”
“Overall, the match was a lot tighter than I think any of us expected; they got every ball,” Petersmeyer continued. “It was actually great to have to play that kind of volleyball to start regionals off.”
“I thought it was one of our best games of the season,” said IHS head coach Shasta Pontine. “They played hard.”
After balancing the Saints’ 25-18 win in Game 1 with a 25-19 win in Game 2, the ’Cats pressed Petersmeyer into calling a timeout down 12-7 in Game 3. And though VCHS would eventually tie the score at 15, Ignacio – seeded 31st in the Class 2A State Tournament’s initial Round-of-36 – rallied to retie at 22-22.
IHS senior Trinity Strohl then served long, and Allen brought up game point by acing junior libero Kacey Brown. Junior Solymar Cosio kept the ’Cats alive with a scoring tip shot, but 6-seed Vail Christian won 25-23 when IHS setter Laci Brunson bumped a pass off the net and antenna.
Able to remove Allen from the service line early in Game 4 via a Cosio kill that tied the score at 1-1, IHS went up 3-1 before VCHS, via a Logan Nobrega ace plus Payton Vermeer overpass kill, forced Pontine into taking a timeout down 8-3. The Volleycats pulled even at 9-9 and again at 10-10, but after the Saints forged ahead 17-14, the stage was set for a wild finish. Ignacio junior Darlyn Mendoza-Lechuga drilled VCHS senior Aria Webster with an equalizing serve as Webster ducked out of the way.
Petersmeyer called timeout after Cosio put IHS up 19-17 with a slide kill off senior Grace Engleby’s block. VCHS would tie at 20-all, but Ignacio went up 23-20 via a kill by senior Harmony Reynolds. Petersmeyer used her last timeout and, after a lengthy rally started by a Brunson serve, Engleby placed a perfect roll shot into empty space.
Junior Hannah Leonard then terminated a Nobrega set. Pontine took a timeout in hopes of protecting Ignacio’s 23-22 lead, but VCHS senior Daisy Palacio followed with a shot the ’Cats couldn’t cleanly pass.
Maya Telles successfully served in bounds, then Leonard and Nobrega combined to block Strohl and bring up match point. Telles then served a great ball, resulting in an IHS passing error, to end the action.
Against Vail Christian, Reynolds downed 11 kills and Cosio did likewise, though both were held below .200 hitting. Strohl and sophomore Ollyvia Howe each recorded four kills. Brunson totaled 29 set assists. Reynolds finished with a double-double thanks to her 18 digs, a number exceeded by only Brown (21). Brunson came up with seven digs, while Howe and Maci Barnes each logged five. Cosio was also credited with an impressive five solo blocks.
Reynolds led Ignacio offensively against Lake County with 11 kills and Cosio followed with seven. Brunson finished with 28 assists. Strohl booked five kills and sophomore Marissa Olguin four. Brown totaled 19 digs defensively, Reynolds finished with seven, and Barnes and Strohl each had five.
Regional runners-up, the ’Cats improved to a season-ending 14-11 overall; LCHS, the No. 19 seed, finished 19-6.
“I think when we started … they were let down because we’d lost. And it was a hard loss,” Pontine said, referencing her players’ demeanor as play against the Panthers commenced. “And not knowing at that point the outcome – not knowing how Lake County was going to rank (against VCHS) – it took us a little while to get our energy back.”
“We started to get into a huddle to talk,” she continued, recalling her post-match address to her team, “but they were kicking us out of the gym – it was kind of a fast transition! But I got to go around and give most of them a hug before they left with their parents. I told them I was proud of them, and that it was a great season.”
No. 6 Vail Christian (20-3) will next play at 11 a.m. Thursday against Hotchkiss-based No. 11 North Fork (19-5) in the first-round of the Class 2A state tournament.
