Ponderosa gritted out a win against Highlands Ranch 23-25, 25-10, 20-25, 25-18, 16-14 to wrap up an exhausting day and roller-coaster season. The state finals in the four other classifications had three defending champions repeat, and Fleming in Class A losing its crown only in the championship match, to undefeated Otis.
Ponderosa (27-4), conversely, won its first state volleyball title in a circuitous and dramatic fashion. Ponderosa’s Carly Boatwright, Caitie Breaux and Mariah Goody each totaled 14 kills in the final, while Goody added two solo and seven assist blocks. Setter Hannah Hoffman had 43 assists and libero Kendall Howard had 34 digs against Highlands Ranch.
Carly Boatwright, Ponderosa
File photo by Ray Chen
Rob Graham’s Mustangs squad (27-4) came into state as the fifth seed and had its chances of breaking pool jarred by losses to Pine Creek on Friday and, in five sets, to Doherty on Saturday. Doherty emerged as the clear leader of Pool I with three wins, but Ponderosa, Arapahoe and Pine Creek were all 1-2.
The three-way tie meant the Mustangs had to beat the other two in one-set matches, but that just set the stage for Ponderosa’s finest moment, a 25-22, 25-7, 25-21 win over well-rested Grandview in the semifinals. Defense from Howard (34 digs) and blocking from middle blocker Goody (one solo, five assist blocks) were deciding factors.
"Kendall was the best player in the world," Graham said. "I’ve never seen her make plays like that. It was so ridiculous. (Goody) went off. I loved every minute of it."
Prior to the tiebreakers, Ponderosa had looked like a team that had lost its edge. The Mustangs had their string of 18 consecutive victories ended by Chaparral in their regular-season finale and somehow had to face the Wolverines again in regionals. That gave Ponderosa only two losses, but the Mustangs were dissed again by having a 24-3 record listed in the state program. With the Doherty loss a disappointing way to end pool play, Ponderosa got revitalized entering the tiebreakers by overhearing an opposing coach disparage the Mustangs.
"Honestly, we just got (ticked off)," middle blocker Boatwright said. "We played amazing in the beginning of the season and knew we needed to revert back to that to be better. That includes playing as a team, as a cohesive unit, and going together because that’s how we do it best. When you combine that and a team ridiculously (ticked) off, it just clicks."
Highlands Ranch needed five sets against Doherty to make the finals, but managed to overcome 6-foot-3 junior Spartans player Taylor Simpson, probably the deadliest hitter on any 5A tournament team. Against Ponderosa, Falcons coach Lou Krauss got key kills from right-side hitter Megan Buckingham and outside Breanna Wong, but the errors also piled up as the Ponderosa block was effective. Goody continued her outstanding play from the Grandview match, while Boatwright got her share of blocks and kills as well.
Goody finished her competitive volleyball career with standout performances and had an icing-on-the-cake moment when she solo blocked a ball from Falcons libero Leylin Marroquin. Outside hitter Becky Stewart was another senior who lifted her game on Saturday, notching seven kills against the Falcons to help Ponderosa to the title.
Indians complete undefeated season
In Class 4A, the talk was about the Big Three, but there actually was only the Prime One. Cheyenne Mountain swept Lewis-Palmer 25-13, 25-17, 25-21 for the title, marking the Indians’ second consecutive state championship.
Contenders Mullen and Roosevelt, the second and third seeds, respectively, fell by the wayside before the title match. Even Cheyenne Mountain and coach David Barkley had a scare, falling behind Longmont 2-1 Saturday morning before winning and then taking out Roosevelt 3-1 in a tight semifinal.
In the final, though, Cheyenne Mountain had just one close set and the overall scores were almost identical to an Indians victory against the Rangers on Oct. 13. The Indians graduated the core of their 2008 championship team, but returnees Kendall Gaffney, Tasha Ray and Janae VanderPloeg made sure that title wasn’t Cheyenne Mountain’s last. Gaffney, an outside hitter headed to play next for Bryant University in Rhode Island, said it meant more for her Colorado Springs school to beat a team located just up the road in Monument.
"They’re a great team, and we always love playing Lewis-Palmer," said Gaffney, who led Cheyenne Mountain with 13 kills. "We have a lot of fans come out. It was a lot of fun to play one of our biggest rivals in the championship match." Cheyenne Mountain also won the Smoky Hill tournament earlier this season, beating Rampart in the final.
Six-peat for the Lions
In a dream matchup, Colorado Springs Christian solidly put away Valley 25-17, 25-13, 26-24. The undefeated Lions beat a previously undefeated team to win their sixth consecutive Class 3A championship.
Morgan Broekhuis, Colorado Springs Christian
File photo by Ray Chen
CSCS, 30-0, compiled plenty of impressive statistics. Nebraska recruit Morgan Broekhuis, a 6-5 setter/hitter, led the Lions with 18 kills and added 15 assists. Alabama recruit Brianne VandeGriend, a 6-foot outside hitter, had 14 kills. Colorado recruit Hannah Walker, a 5-5 setter, had 23 assists. Texas-El Paso recruit Ashley Peak, a 5-1 junior libero, had 12 digs. Sure-to-be recruited Lauren Santarelli, a 5-10 junior middle, had seven blocks.
"I know that since the beginning of the season, we’ve wanted to play Valley a lot," VandeGriend said. "It just made it better and sweeter that we played a really good team."
Broekhuis is passing up club volleyball and Lions basketball to enroll at Nebraska in the second semester. She treasures her sophomore-year championship, when the Lions had a lot of unproven players.
"They’re all different," she said. "I would say the most exciting one would have to be our sophomore year just because we were the underdogs in that situation."
Moss-led Fowler a rolling stone
Fowler now has a dozen state volleyball titles, including two in a row under coach Sandy Moss and her daughter, standout Bethany Moss. Bethany was a freshman last season and helped her sister Morgan, the Class A player of the year win that 11th title. Now, with Morgan having graduated, Bethany and Sandy still claimed another championship.
"Without my sister, it’s different, but I've got to go on and I can't do anything about it," Bethany said. "Knowing we only have one senior (Kirsten Grasmick), we did it for her."
The Grizzlies, 30-1, added to their championship total with a 25-15, 25-21, 25-19 sweep of Resurrection Christian. Fowler did get stretched along the way, edging seventh-seeded Dolores in five sets, 25-16, 21-25, 25-16, 24-26, 15-6, and sixth-seeded Burlington, 25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 22-25, 15-12 in pool play. The Grizzlies also had an extended match against Resurrection Christian earlier Saturday in pool play, beating the Cougars 28-26, 23-25, 25-18, 28-26.
"We were really focused on winning and we really wanted it," Bethany said. "Sometimes we would get ourselves in a fog and have a hard time getting out. But I think we did a good job working our way out of it."
Fowler came in as the No. 2 seed, having its perfect record marred by a five-set loss to Simla in regionals. Perhaps all the close matches had Sandy Moss somewhat stunned.
"I'm numb, but it is pretty cool," she said. "It is awesome winning with my daughter, but you know I feel like everyone on the team is one of my kids. I wanted this as much for the others as I wanted it for her."
Otis pulls a perfecto
The Bulldogs not only finished with a perfect 30-0 record, they dethroned defending champion Fleming 18-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-16 in the final. Coach Bonnie Wallin-Kuntz and her team also shattered the sports adage of how it’s nearly impossible to beat a good team three times.
"We have a lot of heart and we set out to win all year," Otis outside hitter Anthonya Schaffer said. We owe it to Fleming; they are a great team, but we wanted to get them back from last year. There are more than six people who wanted this on that court. We just were not about to give up; that has been our style, just keep focused and keep playing hard. And, that’s just what all of us did."
Schaffert was referring to last season’s state final, when Fleming beat the Bulldogs. This was Otis’ time for perfection. Otis not only beat Fleming for the third time, but also defeated a high-quality team in Hi-Plains four times this season for a multi-sweep against the state’s second and third-place finishers.
The Bulldogs, who won their third state championship, found an immediate fight on their hands in their first match. Otis struggled against Weldon Valley 25-19, 20-25, 25-23, 26-24 on Friday. That was the top seed against the eighth, and the team tied with CSCS and Valley in 3A for the best record was pushed hard by the team with the worst record, a 16-11 Weldon Valley squad.
"These kids are flat-out incredible," Otis coach Bonnie Wallin-Kuntz said. "We have been down in games and we have dug back from 10 points down, 12 points down; it is just incredible. It is an honor to be a part of this group."
It is notable that Weldon Valley coach Jerry Spooner and his Warriors far outperformed their seed by making it into the semifinals against Fleming. Weldon Valley needed to beat McClave on Saturday to break pool play and did so with a trying 27-25, 19-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-12 win against the Cardinals.
