CLASS 1A VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW – WEEK FIVE BY: KERRY SHERMAN
With about a month and a half left in the regular season, things are really starting to get interesting in Class 1A. Every night seems to have either an upset or a top team being pushed to the limit before pulling out a tougher than expected victory. This is the final week in which we will use our MileHigh Prep Report Media Poll for the rankings, as there is starting to be enough data for us to shift to the CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index, which is the official postseason qualifying metric.

#1 MERINO LADY RAMS (8-0)

Merino had a pair of matches over the last week and the Lady Rams were able to keep their clean sheet, sweeping Wray and Otis. The Lady Rams cruised past 2A Wray in LPAA play, taking the match by scores of 25-12/17/11. Wray was limited to just nine kills in the match. Tuesday’s match with Otis nearly saw Merino drop its first set of the season, as the Lady Bulldogs rallied back from a 25-12 loss in the opening set to push the Lady Rams in the second, but eventually fell 25-23. Merino put it away 25-15 in the third. The Lady Rams are in the midst of a tough portion of the schedule, with a home contest on Saturday against #3 Simla followed by a home match with 2A Limon on Tuesday.

#2 MCCLAVE LADY CARDINALS (6-0)

McClave had two more tough tests over the past seven days, and the Lady Cardinals aced both of them. The Lady Cards jumped all over #4 Idalia on Saturday, taking the first two sets by scores of 25-23 and 25- 15. Idalia fought back to take the third 25-21, but McClave closed it out 25-14 in the fourth. Abrielle Gomez (15), McKayla Kiniston (14), and Avery Hemphill (12) each finished with double figure kills. Gomez (14) and Kiniston (11) combined for 25 total blocks, and Emily Melgoza added six. Strong back row defense led the Lady Cards to a sweep of rival Kit Carson in High Plains league play on Tuesday, 25- 20/11/17. Five Lady Cards were in double figure digs, led by Hemphill with 15 and Ashlynn Steinbrunn with 13. McClave visits South Baca on Thursday and travels to #10 Cheraw on Tuesday.

#3 SIMLA LADY CUBS (6-2)

Simla only had one match last week, as the Lady Cubs hosted Stratton on Friday. After dropping the opening set 25-22, they were in danger of going down 0-2 before pulling out a 25-23 win in the second. Simla just seemed to get stronger as the match went on, and the Lady Cubs closed it out in four, taking the last two sets 25-18 and 25-15. Kylie Maranville and Carlee Cox were a two-person wrecking crew at the net, hammering 15 and 14 kills, respectively. Cox led everyone on the night with 27 digs, and Meadow Nusbaum had a season-high 41 assists. Following Saturday’s big clash with top-ranked Merino, Simla makes a trip to 2A Colorado Springs School on Tuesday.

#4 IDALIA LADY WOLVES (7-2)

Idalia had a busy stretch, playing three matches with the benefit of a tri or tournament. The Lady Wolves ran their win streak to four by taking out Arickaree in three sets last Friday, 25-16, 25-14, and 27-25. Jaylyn Kechter had 11 kills and seven total blocks, while Addyson Juhnke and Kyndal Richards each had nine kills. Juhnke added four total blocks, a figure matched by Brigette Kite, who had a double-double with 27 assists and 24 digs. The winning streak was snapped the following day with the 3-1 loss at McClave, but the Lady Wolves again showed great balance in the attack. Kechter (9), Richards (8), and Juhnke (6) were joined by Krista Wieser (6). Juhnke tallied 26 digs, and Kite had 28 assists. Idalia got back on track this past Tuesday, sweeping Flagler 25-12/15/14, and handing the Lady Panthers their second straight loss. The Lady Wolves will turn their focus to Friday’s match at #6 Otis. The Lady Wolves are the only team to defeat Otis in YWKC action during the MaxPreps era (2007-present) and have done it four times. Three were back in 2014 and the other was two years ago. The Lady Wolves will then head to Bethune on Saturday for a quad with the hosts, Cheyenne Wells, and Belleview Christian.

#5 DOVE CREEK LADY BULLDOGS (8-2)

Dove Creek was pushed by Monticello (UT) last Thursday, but still came out with a sweep. The Lady Bulldogs took the win by scores of 25-21/22/20. Kylie Gatlin and Ralynn Hickman provided the thump, hammering 15 and 11 kills, respectively. Kalie Gatlin recorded 22 assists and 12 digs. The Lady Bulldogs are on the road this weekend, visiting Norwood on Friday and Ignacio on Saturday. On Tuesday, they will host 2A #9 Mancos, looking to avenge an earlier five-set loss to the Lady Bluejays.

#6 OTIS LADY BULLDOGS (7-3)

Otis had its four-match winning streak snapped in the Tuesday loss against Merino, but still played well in defeat. Prior to that contest, the Lady Bulldogs had improved to 2-0 in YWKC play, keeping up its domination of Hi-Plains in a 3-0 sweep last Friday. Otis won 25-11/12/20, beating the Lady Patriots for the 31st consecutive time in the MaxPreps era. Four of those came when Hi-Plains was in the co-op with Flagler. When the Lady Bulldogs host Idalia on Friday, they’ll be looking for their 27th win in the last 31 meetings with the Lady Wolves. That’s the only action Otis will see until next Saturday.

#7 STRATTON LADY EAGLES (3-2)

After opening the season with a pair of 3-0 sweeps, Stratton ran into some trouble last weekend against highly-ranked opposition. The Lady Eagles visited 2A #2 Wiggins last Thursday and were dumped by the Lady Tigers 25-18/17/20. Sedonia Isenbart and McKenna Notter each had seven kills to lead the attack, while Kali Fox added six and Sophie Isenbart tallied five. In the loss to Simla the following night, Notter got rolling a bit better, pounding down a dozen kills, while the Isenbart cousins each had seven. Hanna Notter registered 25 digs, with Sedonia Isenbart adding 22 and M. Notter popping up 20. The losing streak came to an end on Tuesday when Stratton defeated Eads in straight sets, 25-13/22/14. They will visit Genoa-Hugo/Karval on Friday, looking to stay unbeaten in Union Pacific play.

#8 HAXTUN FIGHTIN’ LADY BULLDOGS (8-5)

Haxtun had a rough go of things last Saturday in the Timnath tournament, dropping two out of three matches. The Fightin’ Lady Bulldogs fell to Weldon Valley 2-0 and to the hosts in the same fashion, before beating Prairie 2-0 in the crossover contest. The brightest spot in the loss to Weldon Valley was the service of Cassidy Goddard, who collected four aces. The attack continued to struggle in the loss to Timnath, as for the second straight match no one had more than five kills. That changed in the win over Prairie, with Goddard ripping six kills in the contest, which Haxtun dominated, only allowing 25 total points. The Fightin’ Lady Bulldogs were unable to build off that win, as they were controlled by Wiggins on Tuesday, 25-11/11/19. Haxtun will look to get back on track next Tuesday in a LPAA contest at Wray.

#9 BRIGSSDALE LADY FALCONS (6-2)

The Lady Falcons bounced back from their tough loss at Otis by sweeping a pair of North Central league matches last weekend. First, they cruised by Peetz 25-12/14/10 on Thursday, and then followed that up the next night on the road with a 25-14/20/10 win at Prairie. Those wins have the Lady Falcons half a game up in the NCL standings, just ahead of Weldon Valley. Those two meet on Thursday in Briggsdale. Briggsdale will also host Arickaree on Friday and travel to Caliche on Saturday. Both of those matches are non-league.

#10 CHERAW LADY WOLVERINES (7-0)

Cheraw broke into the top-10 this week as voters started to take notice of the body of work by the Lady Wolverines. They remained unbeaten with wins at South Baca (25-13/22/22) last Thursday and at Evangel Christian (25-17/12/17) on Saturday. Four of their seven wins this season have been sweeps. The Lady Wolverines host Cheyenne Wells on Friday in High Plains action, and travel to Springfield on Saturday for a non-league tussle. Next Tuesday is the big showdown against #2 McClave, at home.

The group outside the top-10 includes Weldon Valley, who improved to 5-4 on the year by taking two of three at the Timnath tourney, losing a tough 2-1 match to the 3A hosts who are undefeated on the season. The Lady Warriors swept Caliche on Tuesday and have the big NCL clash with Briggsdale on Thursday night.
After suffering back-to-back five-set losses to #10 Cheraw and 3A Salida, La Veta got back to its winning ways last Thursday, sweeping Manzanola. The Lady Redhawks visit Primero on Thursday and host a tri on Saturday with Evangel Christian and Sangre de Cristo.
Belleview Christian got pushed by Rocky Mountain Lutheran last Thursday, but still came out on top in three sets. The Lady Bruins won the contest 25-16, 25-20, and 26-24 with Alivia Cox and Olivia Donadio each collecting 16 kills. They’ll put their unblemished mark on the line in the Bethune quad on Saturday, with matches against the hosts, Cheyenne Wells, and #4 Idalia on tap.
With a five-set loss to Genoa-Hugo/Karval and the three-set sweep at the hands of Idalia, Flagler is reeling a bit as the Lady Panthers head into Thursday’s UP match against 2A Limon. They’ll turn right around and visit Hi-Plains on Saturday for a non-league tilt and then host 2A Byers in another UP contest on Tuesday.
Pikes Peak Christian is enjoying a nice start to the season, running out to a 7-2 record, with wins in four of the last five outings. The Lady Eagles fell to 2A Fountain Valley last Thursday, but responded by beating Monument Academy and CSS, both in sweep fashion.
After dropping consecutive Western Slope matches to Plateau Valley and Vail Christian, Caprock Academy got back into the win column by sweeping De Beque on Wednesday. Up next are league matches against North Fork at home on Friday, at Rangely on Saturday, and back home on Tuesday against Grand Valley.
Cotopaxi saw its unbeaten start to the season come to an end last week with a five-set loss to 3A Florence, which was followed by a sweep defeat by Sangre de Cristo. The Lady Pirates look to get back on track with home contests against Mountain Valley on Friday and Elbert on Saturday.
Granada also suffered its first loss of the season last week, when the Lady Bobcats fell to Wiley in three sets. ToriLin Riddle had seven kills and three blocks in the loss. The Lady Bobcats host Walsh on Friday and Crowley County next Tuesday.
In the sweep loss to Otis last Friday, Hi-Plains junior middle Dejah Haymore provided a bit of a silver lining by registering six blocks. Haymore built on that effort with a match-high seven kills in a sweep victory over Bethune in YWKC play. The Lady Patriots are 4-1 as they prepare to host Flagler in non- league action on Saturday.