The Chargers were hosting Regis Jesuit, and they sent the visitors home with a 25-20, 25-23, 25-19 sweep of the fifth-ranked team in Class 5A. Chatfield is a gritty squad with good defense. Coach Stephanie Schick has two stars, Ali Longo and Mary Pollmiller, doing most of the hitting and setting. Longo is one of the state’s most exciting players, a 5-foot-6 hitter/setter rocking shots from both the right and left antennae.
Longo had 24 kills and also was potent from the back row. She had six aces and set Pollmiller, who had seven kills and two blocks. Longo gets plenty of attention, but Pollmiller’s all-around skills certainly made an impact on her teammate.
"She was huge tonight; she played awesome," Longo said of Pollmiller. "The whole team did and she was a key factor."
Chatfield (11-3 overall, 4-0 league) leads the Jefferson County League, but shares that honor with Ralston Valley (13-2, 5-0). The teams meet at the Mustangs’ gym on Oct. 20.
"We have high goals and we’re going after them every night," Longo said. "I think it’s huge that we’re sticking to our word and working as a team to get things done."
Pollmiller set Longo a little tighter to the net than usual, which resulted in one memorable kill almost straight down. However, Pollmiller’s best assist came on a back set. The pass went to the center of the court, so it seemed that going to Longo on the right side was out of the question. But Pollmiller tried it anyway, with a deceptive and brilliant set, and Longo disposed of it with ease.
In the second set, Regis posted a 23-16 lead. Chatfield answered by scoring nine consecutive points to win.
"When we had that timeout, the environment on the court changed," Pollmiller said. "We came together as a team and everyone put in and that’s how we got it. It took every single girl, even the bench players."
The run also was attributable to Regis being in a difficult rotation, which means that outside hitter Kristina Lavrisha was stuck in the back row. Lavrisha led Regis with nine kills, but the passing was so poor that setter Molly Deibel had to run them down and went to the left side hitter every time.
Coach Laura Dunston’s Raiders actually worked the middle well when passing permitted, with Sarah Schmid getting eight kills. Starting libero Anna Atencio limped into the gym on crutches because she has an injured left leg and will be out for a few more weeks, at least.
Chatfield as a title contender
The Chargers have quality losses, to Mullen, Rampart and Ponderosa. So does Chatfield have what it takes to win league, districts and regionals?
"I thought for sure that we would be this good," Longo said. "I don’t want to sound cocky or whatever, but we have a team that works hard, and that’s really all that matters. We’re proving it right now that height doesn’t matter. As long as you’re working hard and everyone’s going after the same goal, you can accomplish anything."
Chatfield also shook off the shock of seeing libero Stephanie Coufal getting knocked out of the match. Schmid blasted a shot off Coufal’s face that resulted in a blood trail on the court and her jersey. Coufal got a replacement top during a timeout and returned to action quickly.
Regional hot spots
The Colorado Springs area has to be the prep volleyball capital of the state, with undefeated teams, as of this writing, at Cheyenne Mountain (13-0), Colorado Springs Christian (14-0) and St. Mary’s (13-0). There are other squads with fine records at Doherty (11-4), Rampart (10-4) and Pine Creek (11-3) in 5A; Woodland Park (12-1) and Lewis-Palmer (11-3) in 4A and Classical Academy (11-3) in 3A.
The town of Parker also has a pair of fine 5A teams in top-ranked Ponderosa (14-0) and No. 4 Chaparral (11-3). Fittingly, they meet in the last match of the regular season, on Oct. 21 in the Mustangs’ gym.
Who needs tournaments?
The tournament season is over for most teams, but that doesn’t mean there’s a vacuum on Saturdays. The Classical Academy at Colorado Springs Christian might be the last challenge for the Lions until the playoffs. There’s also Eaton at Faith Christian, Liberty at Otis, Simla at Kiowa and Pawnee at Fleming this week.
Metro deserters
In Class 3A, there’s an interesting Frontier League matchup with Platte Canyon at Middle Park on Friday. Both teams are hard-pressed to find a tough league battle, which would occur weekly if their schools had stayed in the Metropolitan League.
