LAKEWOOD – Ignacio High School’s volleyball team began Denver Christian Invitational on Saturday in Lakewood by losing 16-25, 17-25, 19-25 to No. 9 Holyoke, then falling 18-25, 22-25, 20-25 to Vail Mountain.
The Volleycats, however, proved their worth by earning a 25-10, 25-12, 19-25, 17-25, 15-8 victory over No. 6 Front Range Christian.
“We were tired of losing,” said senior Trinity Strohl, whose back-to-back aces in Game 5 put IHS up 7-5 – an advantage the ’Cats wouldn’t lose. “After the (Holyoke) game, we just decided to start having fun, and I think that definitely helped with our playing.”
“I mean, we might not have won the (Vail Mountain) game,” she said, “but I know it definitely helped us get closer as a team. We just wanted to finish and win one, at the least.”
“Holyoke was a slow start this morning. We needed time to wake up,” head coach Shasta Pontine said. “Vail Mountain was a better showing. We were neck-and-neck, and then we started making errors … we couldn’t get back. But all of this is good experience; that’s kind of what we showed up for. So I’m proud of the effort.”
By the time FRCS comprehended what was happening in Game 1, IHS’ early 5-2 lead had ballooned to 18-9. It grew to 24-10 via a cross-court kill by senior Harmony Reynolds, and 25-10 when Falcon libero Grace Fleming’s attempted attack went out of bounds.
Game 2 began in much the same way. Front Range Christian committed three consecutive hitting errors, and IHS sophomore Ollyvia Howe smacked down an over-pass, helping Ignacio to an insurmountable 11-1 lead. A Reynolds kill on game point had the ’Cats suddenly thinking “sweep.”
Entering the match with a loss to No. 3 Meeker and then to No. 7 Strasburg, the comeback by previously unbeaten FRCS commenced with a 10-9 lead in Game 3 and the set victory.
The ’Cats built a 9-6 lead early in Game 4 but saw it disappear at 10-10.
Sophomore Marissa Olguin put down a go-ahead kill, but Front Range Christian went on a 10-2 run. FRCS would tie the match 2-2 via a well-placed Eadlin Hoff roll shot.
Neither side gained much of an upper hand early in Game 5. The score was tied at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 before Strohl struck from the service line. Junior Solymar Cosio then stuffed down an over-pass, and Ignacio soon pressed Amanda Deich into taking a timeout after Reynolds served consecutive gems that increased IHS’ lead to 11-6. Cosio scored two of the next three points, and Olguin placed a roll shot to bring up match point at 14-7.
Lucy Krum managed a scoring block on Howe, but Ignacio prevailed when Hoff then hit long.
“We were definitely out-served this match,” Deich said. “Ignacio has some amazing servers, and unfortunately I didn’t feel comfortable having my players serve with the same aggression, because we were missing our serves.”
Reynolds and Olguin were each credited with eight kills, and Strohl and Howe six each in the win. Brunson totaled 26 assists. Cosio registered five solo blocks and one assisted.
“Looking at bigger teams that have a lot more girls – and taller girls – we’re just happy that we have each other,” Strohl said. “We’re still getting closer, we’re still getting better every day. And I think we finally just played as a team, started working together … in this last (match).”
“It just showed us … our potential,” Cosio said, “and that we could set standards for ourselves and perform at that level.”
Top-ranked in Class 2A going in, Sedgwick County of Julesberg won the tournament by sweeping Holyoke 25-22, 25-20, 25-12 in the championship match. Meeker finished third, followed by Denver Christian, Strasburg, Vail Mountain, Ignacio (6-6 overall) and Front Range Christian.
MONUMENT – Through two matches at the 2022 Lewis-Palmer Volleyball Invitational, Bayfield had led only once, after an Allia Connell kill and Kody Rey ace to start Game 2 of a clash with Kersey-based Patriot League power Platte Valley.
The Broncos eventually ran away with a 25-14, 25-18 win, but the Wolverines never backed down, and weren’t about to for the remainder of a long Saturday in El Paso County.
Defeated 25-15, 25-20 in the opening match by 5A Jeffco member Ralston Valley, BHS pushed PVHS to the very end, pulling even at 9-9 and later rallying back to as close as 21-18 before an ace on match point left BHS 0-2 in Pool C but ready to salvage a high placing.
Facing 4A Coronado (Colorado Springs) next in the tournament’s cross-over round, Bayfield at last tasted victory with a 25-19 Game 1 win after taking a 3-0 lead via a Christiana Sutherlin kill and two unplayable Rey serves. Kambrie Byrd polished off the session by acing CHS libero Sierra Vigil.
Coronado evened the contest with a 25-16 triumph in Game 2, but was fortunate to swipe the tiebreaking race to 15 after BHS twice staved off match point. A kill by K’Lee Stuffelbeam-Jolly tied Game 3 at 14-14 for Bayfield, and despite a Coronado timeout, Bayfield libero Myrah Abdallah-Boehm then aced Vigil to give BHS a chance at conquest.
But her next serve unluckily flew long, and Stuffelbeam-Jolly smacked an attack long, putting CHS on match point at 16-15. Hoping to place in the top 10, Bayfield was denied when Coronado’s Hannah Walters served an unreturnable clincher.
Left with a best-possible finish of 11th, the Wolverines took full advantage of facing 4A Montrose. Montrose beat Bayfield in last year’s seventh-place match, but Bayfield prevailed 25-21, 25-23 in the rematch.
The Durango High School volleyball team followed its sweep over Grand Junction on Friday by sweeping Southwestern League foe Fruita Monument on Saturday.
Kills from Emma Burns, Leah Wolf and Sarah Somrak, and blocks from Aava Dreger and Burns helped the Demons race out to an 11-2 lead in Game 1. Fruita fought back and tied the game 20-20, but the Demons won 25-23 after Somrack had a pair of late blocks.
The Demons won the second game by the same score, 25-23, and then prevailed 25-19 in Game 3 to take the match.
DHS improved to 6-2 overall and league-leading 2-0 in the 4A/5A SWL with the win. Fruita is second at 2-6, 1-1.
The Demons were also scheduled to play Piedra Vista on Tuesday as this paper was going to press.
