CLASS 1A VOLLEYBALL REPORT – WEEKEND by Kerry Sherman

Picture by Karianne Donnelson (Fleming vs Peetz)

CLASS 1A VOLLEYBALL REPORT – WEEKEND

BY: KERRY SHERMAN

What started with a crazy evening on Thursday continues into the weekend, as the Class 1A slate is full of matches featuring teams in the top-12 of the most recent CHSAA Selection and Seeding Index. This includes two huge tournaments on Saturday.

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FRIDAY

#1 FLEMING (16-1) AT BRIGGSDALE (4-13)

Fleming outlasted Prairie on Thursday, pulling out a wild five-set victory over the Lady Mustangs. That will all but locked up the North Central crown for the Lady Wildcats. They’ll see how much is left in the tank when they travel to league rival Briggsdale. Fleming swept the Lady Falcons in their earlier meeting this season, with Ashley Bornhoft putting down a dozen kills. Ciana Lousberg added nine kills and 18 assists. Briggsdale only had eight total kills in the loss, three by Claire Brown.

#2 MERINO (13-0) AT 2A #8 SEDGWICK COUNTY (13-4)

Merino leads the LPAA by a game over Wiggins, Holyoke, and Sedgwick County. The Lady Rams can take a huge step towards claiming the league title with a win, while the Lady Cougars create havoc with a victory. The Lady Rams are coming off a five-set win over Wiggins last Tuesday. They had not lost a set prior to that match. Jaylyn Lynch put down 24 kills, while Jadelynn Powell and Delaney Piel recorded 15 and 13, respectively. Piel popped up 42 digs, and Riley Pope distributed 58 assists. Sedgwick County picked up its fifth straight win, beating Yuma in four on Tuesday. Lainee Nein put away 15 kills for the Lady Cougars, and made it a triple-double with 23 assists and 20 digs.

#5 STRATTON (13-4) AT #14 EADS (10-5)

Stratton moved to within one win of locking up the Union Pacific title with a sweep of Byers on Tuesday. Sophia Isenbart and Kinsleigh Brachtenbach had 10 kills apiece for the Lady Eagles, and Gracie Miltenberger added five. Eads dropped its second consecutive match, falling to McClave in three on Tuesday. Anna Wollert led the Lady Eagles with nine kills. Bailey Sierra recorded 22 digs, and Peyton Eder added 18.

#6 PRAIRIE (14-3) AT PEETZ (5-12)

There’s little time for Prairie to recover from Thursday’s five-set loss to Fleming, as the Lady Mustangs are back in action 24 hours later. They travel to Peetz for a NCL rematch, after beating the Lady Bulldogs in three earlier in the season. Hannah Kugler had 11 kills for Prairie in that win, and Macie Jaeger added eight. Peetz, who is coming off a tough five-set loss to Weldon Valley on Thursday, only had 10 kills as a team in the previous defeat by Prairie. Nataleigh Kalb had four of them.

#7 GRANADA (16-2) AT #23 CHEYENNE WELLS (8-9)

Granada got a big sweep victory over #17 Flagler on Thursday night, with Camryn Coleman hammering 21 kills. The standout freshman now has 264 on the season. She also tallied seven total blocks, five of them solo, and tied for the team lead with 15 digs. Leila Pizarro and Emersen Hernandez also posted that total. Cheyenne Wells picked up its first High Plains league win of the season on Monday at Kit Carson. Serenity Worley had eight kills and five aces for the Lady Tigers in the four-set victory. Athena Ball served six aces.

#9 HI-PLAINS (13-5) AT 2A HAXTUN (6-13)

Hi-Plains was looking to get back into the win column on Thursday night, when #18 Akron paid a visit. The Lady Patriots had lost their previous outing in the finals of the Stratton Bash. Hi-Plains won a five-set marathon over the Lady Rams to get back on track. Haxtun broke a five-match skid with a five-set win at Kimball (NE) on Thursday. Haxtun trailed 2-0 before responding to claim the reverse sweep, 15-13 in the fifth.

#12 PLATEAU VALLEY (15-1) AT 2A VAIL MOUNTAIN (5-10)

Plateau Valley had won five in a row heading into Wednesday’s Western Slope match at De Beque. The Cowgirls sit one game back of Vail Christian for the lead in the league standings. Wednesday’s meeting with the Lady Dragons was a non-league affair, as Plateau Valley had already earned a sweep against De Beque earlier in the season. Vail Mountain was swept by Soroco on Wednesday, sending the Lady Rangers to their second straight defeat.

SATURDAY

STERLING TOURNAMENT

Merino faces 3A #16 Sterling, 3A #1 Alamosa, 4A Severance, and then has a rematch with 2A #5 Wiggins.

CALICHE TOURNAMENT

The Caliche tournament field includes the #11 ranked Lady Buffs, along with #20 Lone Star, #33 Springfield, Denver Waldorf, 2A #9 Dolores, and Vanguard Classical East.