Colorado's top leagues showcasing strength entering state volleyball

Sometimes it's the strength of the league schedule that can help push a team in either direction come playoff time.

Headed into regional tournament play last weekend, five of the top 12 seeds in Class 4A were upset on their home court. The teams that moved on instead to this weekend's state tournament at the Denver Coliseum each had something in common: competing in a challenging league where they took their share of lumps.

Mullen (Denver), the No. 28 overall seed in the 4A field, finished fifth in the 5A/4A Centennial League but swept past No. 9 Evergreen and No. 16 Thompson Valley (Loveland) in regional play. No. 26 Cheyenne Mountain (Colorado Springs) lost 15 games this fall, but the Indians will be one of four teams from the 5A/4A Pikes Peak – including top-seeded Lewis-Palmer (Monument) – to play at the Coliseum after winning both regional matches.

Ponderosa (Parker) was seventh in the gauntlet that is the 5A/4A Continental League, where four teams qualified for the 5A state tournament. But the 25th-seeded Mustangs used that regular-season schedule to power past the Nos. 12 and 13 seeds in Region 12. No. 18 Discovery Canyon (Colorado Springs) (also from the Pikes Peak) and No. 17 Roosevelt (Johnstown) (Tri-Valley) also earned state berths.

The same held true in 3A, where the Patriot League took six of the classification's 12 state berths. No. 19 Platte Valley (Kersey) upset No. 6 Centauri (La Jara) to advance, as did No. 18 Sterling against No. 7 Colorado Academy (Denver).

Now the real test begins. The state tournament begins Friday morning and runs through Saturday. The state title games for all five classifications are set to get underway at roughly 7 p.m. Saturday, depending on when the semifinals conclude.

Here is a quick look at each of the state's classifications headed into this weekend:

State volleyball tournament pools

Class 5A
Top Seeds: 1. Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch), 2. Fossil Ridge (Fort Collins), 3. Castle View (Castle Rock), 4. Chaparral (Parker)
Defending Champion: Fossil Ridge
Overview: Rock Canyon (Highlands Ranch), the No. 10 seed, endured some late-season struggles. But the Jaguars feature the state's top big hitter in senior Keeley Davis, who is five kills shy of 500 for the season. … Chaparral emerged atop the challenging Continental League with a 9-1 mark. The Wolverines lost three of their first four matches before turning it around to win 19 of the final 21. … Defending champion Fossil Ridge dropped three of four at one point, but the SaberCats' only loss in their final 15 matches came to 4A's No. 1 Lewis-Palmer. Juniors Riley Zuhn and Catie Semadeni have once again led the charge.
Team to Watch: Fruita Monument finished with 5A's top overall record at 24-1, with the only setback coming Sept. 1 to Rock Canyon. The Wildcats' resume' includes victories over 4A No. 2 Valor Christian and 5A No. 3 Castle View, the latter victory giving the team a title in the Rangeview Tournament. Senior Riley Snyder finished second in 5A with 350 kills and teammate Dana Thomson is fourth at 305 kills. Truth Hafey finished fifth in 5A with 752 assists. Fruita Monument has a tough first-day match against No. 4 Chaparral on Friday, and takes on No. 9 Fort Collins on Saturday.

Class 4A
Top Seeds: 1. Lewis-Palmer, 2. Valor Christian (Highlands Ranch), 3. Holy Family (Broomfield), 4. Niwot
Defending Champion: Lewis-Palmer
Overview: Top-seeded Lewis-Palmer has captured three of the previous four 4A state titles, and was the runner-up in 2012 and 2015. The Rangers (25-0) dropped only five sets all season, and have five players with more than 130 kills. … Three of Valor Christian's losses have come to the 5A, 4A and 3A defending state champions. The Eagles swept through 4A Jeffco behind juniors Lily Thomason (203 kills) and Courtney Lane (201). … Holy Family, the 2016 runner-up, has won 19 consecutive matches and is undefeated against 4A competition. Junior Ali Travis leads the team with 347 kills. … There is something to be said for setting the table. Six of 4A's top seven setters have helped lead their team to state. Discovery Canyon's Hannah Pethtel finished second in 4A with 804 assists.
Team to Watch: Palmer Ridge (Monument) dropped only two matches all season, one of which came to Pikes Peak rival and undefeated Lewis-Palmer. The Bears are riding a 12-game winning streak heading into state with a rotation that includes four freshmen. Mac Russ and Riley Simpson lead the team in kills with a combined 466, while Elaina Della Rosa leads the squad in digs (219) and Grace McIntosh is setting her teammates up with 9.8 assists a set. The fifth-seeded Bears are in a pool with No. 4 Niwot and another Pikes Peak foe in Discovery Canyon.

Class 3A
Top Seeds: 1. Eaton, 2. Lutheran (Parker), 3. Faith Christian (Arvada), 4. University (Greeley)
Defending Champion: Eaton
Overview: If Lewis-Palmer has been the state's top program in recent years, Eaton isn't far behind. The Reds are pursuing a fifth consecutive 3A championship and sixth in seven seasons. The team's only two losses this season came to Lewis-Palmer, and Eaton has defeated three of 5A's top four seeds and the 4A No. 2 seed. Junior Mackenzie Harris leads 3A with 407 kills, and Chelsey Lockey's 805 assists are good for first in 3A. … After starting the season with losses to Patriot League teams Valley (Gilcrest) and Platte Valley, Lutheran won 22 of its next 23 matches. The Lions defeated No. 3 seed Faith Christian twice and have excelled with a young rotation. … Two of University's four losses came to Eaton, and the other two were to programs in 5A and 4A. The Bulldogs have a tough draw with another Patriot team in the same pool in Resurrection Christian (Loveland), but University swept the Cougars in late September.
Team to Watch: Valley has been to three consecutive 3A championship games. The Vikings have played Eaton twice this season, taking one set from the Reds in the first match and going to a fifth set Oct. 19. Sophomore Delaney Eckhardt has 370 kills on the season and 50 blocks, and five players have tallied more than 200 digs. The Vikings close out play Friday night against No. 3 Faith Christian.

Class 2A
Top Seeds: 1. Yuma, 2. Swink, 3. Dayspring Christian (Greeley), 4. Hoehne
Defending Champion: Dayspring Christian
Overview: Yuma, which has been to three consecutive 2A title games, is sitting at 22-1 with the only loss coming to 3A No. 4 University in five sets back on Sept. 16. The team is coming off a regional victory over Dayspring Christian, and the team features a potent 1-2 junior punch of Chasey Blach (377 kills) and Cody Robinson (304). … Speaking of Dayspring Christian, seniors Katie Kurz and Megan Roberts have been unstoppable. They have combined for 914 of the team's 1,045 kills and a combined 257 blocks. … Pool II is one to watch. No. 2 Swink will have its hands full with No. 7 Meeker (22-3) and No. 11 Simla (23-2). Simla took Daypsring Christian to five sets earlier this season. … No. 4 Hoehne and No. 5 Fowler have played three times this fall, with Hoehne taking two of those matches.
Team to Watch: Lyons may be the team that nobody wants to see at state. Dayspring Christian, which happens to be in the same pool as the Lions, can attest to that. Lyons defeated the defending state champions twice during the regular season, both times in five sets, and took top-seeded Yuma to five sets on Sept. 22. Lyons is on a 12-game winning streak, and sophomore Taylor Maguire has a team-high 308 kills. Senior Sarah Stevelinck is fourth in 2A with 429 digs.

Class 1A
Top Seeds: 1. Kit Carson, 2. Fleming, 3. La Veta, 4. McClave
Defending Champion: Fleming
Overview: Fleming has been to nine of the past 11 1A state title games, winning six of those contests. The Wildcats' only loss this season came to 3A's Bishop Machebeuf, and the squad has dropped only five sets overall. Senior Alli Keisel has a team-high 316 kills and Bailey Chintala isn't far behind at 289. Freshman Kendyl Kirkwood leads 1A with 773 assists. … Kit Carson is undefeated heading into state, just like the Wildcats were a year ago before falling in the title game to Fleming. Four players have at least 100 kills, led by junior Tess Hornung's 205. … La Veta is also undefeated, having dropped only three sets all season. Junior Kaylee Corsentino leads a balanced lineup with 215 kills. … No. 8 Briggsdale's Skyla Miller is one kill shy of 400 for the season. … Springfield has five of 1A's top eight leaders in digs, with senior Jayci Westphal first at 727.
Team to Watch: Holly is an interesting team at the No. 9 seed. The Wildcats went 18-6 during the season and struggled a bit toward the end, but swept No. 4 McClave in the Region F tournament. Holly opens with that same McClave team Friday and also draws No. 5 Otis. Junior Kallie Cathcart leads the team with 238 kills, 168 blocks and 413 digs.