Colorado high school volleyball teams heading to state tournament

The defending champion in each classification is back in the building, and while they're all looking to repeat their performances from last May, the road to the titles will be tough now that the tournaments are back to full fields of 12 teams.

Here is an overview of some of the top teams in each classification heading into Thursday's matches, which begin at 8 a.m.

Class 5A // Bracket
Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) has the top seed for a classification that appears wide open. The Bruins lost just two matches all season and one of them was to Grandview (Aurora), which finished as the 5A runner-up last spring. Carter Booth has emerged as a Player of the Year candidate with 264 kills and 102 blocks. She was dominant in the regional championship match against Chatfield (Littleton), totaling 21 kills, her highest mark of the season. There have certainly been moments this season where the Bruins look the part of the best 5A team in the field, but they will have to be at their best when matches start Thursday.

Defending champion Rampart (Colorado Springs) has been on the rise and looks more like the team that won state last May. The Rams were inconsistent to start the regular season, but closed it out with big wins over the likes of Grandview, Palmer Ridge (Monument) and Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch) to win the Cheyenne Mountain Tournament. Izzy Starck has shown incredible versatility as she leads the team in kills (347) and is second in assists (378). Her ability to score and distribute the ball to other hitters will make the Rams a very dangerous team.

After falling just short of a 5A title last year, Grandview is hungry for another crack at the gold. The Wolves have looked good at times, like when they beat Cherry Creek 3-1, and been surprised at other times such as back-to-back losses to Rampart and Fossil Ridge (Fort Collins). Haley Glunz and Emerson Deferme each have more than 210 kills and make Grandview a championship caliber team not just this year, but for 2022 as well.

Only two teams played well enough to hand Chaparral (Parker) a loss this season. Coming into the state tournament as the No. 2 seed, the Wolverines lost twice to Grandview, then got surprised by Windsor at the Cheyenne Mountain Tournament. They're loaded with talent across the rotation as Katie Dalton leads the team with 385 kills, Makenzie Brandon has 74 blocks and Macy Buso has 789 assists. The last time a full state tournament was played in this double-elimination format, it was Chaparral leaving as champion, and it aims to do it once again.

Class 4A // Bracket
Palmer Ridge became the first volleyball team not named Cheyenne Mountain or Lewis-Palmer (Monument) to win the 4A state title since 2007. The Bears certainly have their eyes on back-to-back titles and will have to work through a tough tournament field to accomplish the goal. Madison Wilson has established herself as a team leader and a standout player across the state. She leads the Bears in both kills (282) and blocks (102). Kyra Kisting has been a great distributor of the ball with 746 assists. Losses to Valor Christian, Cheyenne Mountain and Rampart have shown the Bears have competed against a top schedule.

After a disappointing exit in the semifinals last year, Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs) has a bit of vengeance on its mind. The Red-Tailed Hawks haven't won a state title since 2015 but seemingly have the roster built to make a championship run. Karlee Pinell and Sydney Morland each have at least 220 kills on the season. They combined for 49 kills in tough losses to Chaparral and Grandview at the Cheyenne Mountain Tournament. That competition seemed to have helped them, however, as the Hawks blitzed through regionals.

Windsor has just five total losses on the season but went undefeated in league play. That fact shouldn't go unnoticed as the NCAA sent four teams to the state tournament, which accounts for a third of the field. A pair of underclassmen lead the Windsor attack as sophomore Julia Bohlinger has 205 kills, while freshman Kadence Marsh has 188. Marsh is also second on the team with 299 assists to Shae Hardy's 429.

Palisade entered the state tournament last spring as the No. 3 seed and got upended by Palmer Ridge. Now as the No. 9 seed, the Bulldogs hope to ride a bit of the underdog wave that the Bears benefited from last spring. Ella Yanowich and Addie Ritterbush have been a solid 1-2 punch, totaling 275 and 240 kills, respectively. While last year's team was very senior heavy for Palisade, this team comes back to the World Arena with big contributions from freshmen and sophomores.

Class 3A // Bracket
For a while it looked like Resurrection Christian (Loveland) was going to end the regular season with an unbeaten record. They were stunned in the Manitou Springs Tournament by league rival University (Greeley), but rebounded nicely to cruise through regionals. The Cougars don't rely on one standout hitter as they have several players who have recorded more than 100 kills. Reagan Mcwhinney leads the team with 180. Bryleigh Schweer is the only player on the team with at least 100 kills and 100 assists. She has 126 kills and 206 assists, which is second on the team to Kylee Nordhagen's 386.

Seeing Eaton at the No. 7 spot certainly causes a double-take when looking at the bracket. The Reds regained their spot atop the 3A throne last spring and still feel like they can remain in that spot despite having to play in a preliminary match Thursday morning. They have suffered losses to Sterling, University, Valley (Gilcrest) and Resurrection Christian, but should be very battle-tested heading into state. Rylee Martin is second on the team with 179 kills, but has been crucial on the serve as she has a team-high 52 aces and 96.2 serving percentage.

No. 2 Lamar is hoping for a much less dramatic entry into state this year. The team nearly missed the tournament because of COVID-19 protocols and lost their lone match at the World Arena. This time, Lamar plans on putting on a show. Sydney Dunning appears recovered from an injury that kept her out of a few matches earlier this season. She totaled 24 kills in Lamar's two matches at regionals. Lamar might be the hottest team coming into state as it is undefeated and dropped just four sets the entire season.

Lutheran (Parker) has seen some tough opponents and earned the No. 3 seed as a result. The Lions dropped matches to Eaton and Resurrection Christian, but rattled off eight straight wins heading into state. Audrey Brgoch leads the Lions with 182 kills, but Lutheran has a deep attack as four different players have recorded at least 100 kills.

Class 2A // Bracket
Sedgwick County (Julesburg) has been on a mission in the fall of 2021. The Cougars finished the regular season and regionals at 21-3, with none of the losses coming to 2A teams. Since dropping the 2A state title game to Wiggins last May, they have been dominant in the majority of their matches since. Gabrielle Powell leads the team with 225 kills and 51 total blocks. Three other players on the team have at least 156 kills, giving the Cougars perhaps the toughest attack to deal with in 2A.

Defending champion Wiggins hit a couple of rough patches during the season and enter the bracket as the No. 6 seed. That means the Tigers could potentially play two matches Thursday, should they get by Ignacio in their first match of the day. Starting in mid-October, Wiggins lost five out of six matches, including dropping four straight. Rachael White and Tyleigh Fehseke each have more than 200 kills and are vital to Wiggins' chances of returning to the state title match.

Meeker has a very specific advantage when heading into the state tournament. The Cowboys have arguably the best player in the state – regardless of classification – on their roster. Emma Luce leads Colorado with 556 kills and has a hitting percentage of 46.6, which is tops for anyone with at least 1,000 attempts this year. The Cowboys are the No. 3 seed in the 2A bracket and lost just one match this season, a tournament match to Centauri (La Veta).

As the No. 3 seed, Fowler has a decent shot to make a championship run. The Grizzlies dropped just two matches this season and both were to teams in the 3A state tournament. Emily Flanscha's attack has been a big reason for the team's success as she leads the team with 307 kills and averages 4.2 kills per set. Klara Sharp has done her best to disrupt opposing hitters and averages about two blocks per match and leads the team with 51.

Class 1A // Bracket
Defending champion Merino enters the bracket as the No. 4 seed as it goes for a second straight title. The Rams won a 3-2 thriller over Fleming last year and actually came back from a 2-0 hole to win their first title since 2001. From a 1A standpoint, Merino has losses to Fleming and Haxtun this season and both those teams are seeded higher at state. Taysa Conger is second in the state, regardless of classification, with 490 kills. Makenna Sutter is 18th in the state with 330, giving the Rams a formidable attack.

If the Rams get through to the state title match, there is a fair chance that they run into Fleming once again. The Wildcats are hungry for a state title after being just one set away from clinching the 1A crown last spring. Like the Rams, the Wildcats have losses to a pair of top-seeded teams in Briggsdale (No. 1) and Haxtun (No. 3). Kally Kirkwood has been great around the net on both sides of the ball as she has 354 kills and 85 total blocks on the year.

Haxtun has a well-balanced attack, which has led to several big wins for the Bulldogs. They have four players with more than 100 kills each, with Allie Thompson leading the way with 329. Taylor Schram is second with 235, ahd she leads the team in assists with 399. The Bulldogs lost just three matches all season but just to two teams. They dropped two matches to Sedgwick County and one to Briggsdale.

Briggsdale is the top overall seed but does not have a perfect record against 1A teams this year. The Falcons dropped a five-set thriller to Fleming and allowed 32 kills from Kirkwood. Kylie Krise is the focal point of Briggsdale's offense with 323 kills. Jenna Krise and Courtney Krise each have more than 200 kills, making Briggsdale's success very much a family affair.