Two Montezuma-Cortez High School girls, who have played volleyball competitively together since middle school days, will be teammates once again for at least another two more years at the junior college level.

Seniors Annie Mortensen and Lindsay Waggoner recently signed National Junior College Athletic Association scholarships to attend Northeastern Colorado Community College in Sterling this fall.

Mortensen, 5-foot-6, started out as a backcourt defensive specialist but moved to setter for her final two years. Waggoner, 6-0, played both middle blocker and middle back during her career. The girls helped MCHS to a sparkling 25-4 record and a tie for third place at the Class 4A State Volleyball Championships in Denver last November.

An excellent defensive player, Waggoner made 70 blocks from the front line. She averaged 3.1 kills per game. She also made 3.1 digs per outing. On the serving line, she recorded 25 aces and had above a 90 percent serving average. Waggoner was named First Team All-Southwest League and picked All-State. She played in the Coaches All-State Game in November and will play this summer in the All-State Games at Greeley.

Partly because of her height and her abilities, she received several offers from larger schools, including University of Southern Colorado, but decided to take the junior college route for now.

"I decided on Northeastern because it is the size of school I was looking at," Waggoner said. "I really wanted to play volleyball after high school and I thought this was a good place to go. I figured junior college was the best for me to take at this time. The classes are small and I could get my requirements out of the way. I knew I could also get some actual playing time rather than sitting on the bench."

She is leaning towards majoring in either secondary or elementary education. Waggoner said she would like to coach volleyball.

How does Waggoner look back on her career at MCHS?

"It was fun. We had some good teams. We won league twice while I was here and went to Regionals three times," she added. In addition to playing volleyball, she was a starting forward/post player for the girls varsity basketball team.

Coach Lindy Mortensen noted Waggoner was an excellent player along the front line.

"Lindsay had quite a few coaches call about her. She is a good middle hitter. Her hitting was just phenomenal. Coaches at the state tournament were amazed at how well she played defense considering her height. She has worked hard for four years. She would be at nearly every open gym and spend quite a few days during summer working on the defensive part of her game," she remarked.

She is the daughter of Ross Waggoner of Cortez and Diana Waggoner also of Cortez.

Mortensen developed into a solid setter. She averaged 9.6 assists. She had the Panther’s best serving percentage at 98.6. Mortensen averaged 3.2 digs a game. Mortensen also was tabbed First Team All-SWL and picked All-State. She played in the Coaches All-State Game and will also play this summer in the All-State Games. She has a 4.0 grade point average.

"I wanted to go to junior college so I could develop my game more and then hopefully transfer to a major college," Mortensen said. "I’m looking forward to playing at the next level. I like playing setter."

How does she reflect on her four-year varsity career at MCHS?

"I learned a lot about the sport and about being dependable. We had some good teams while I played here. I enjoyed playing volleyball more than basketball. I thought that volleyball could take me further," she added.

Mortensen also was the starting point guard for the Panther girls varsity basketball team. MCHS finished with a winning record and advanced to the district semifinals before losing. When not involved with athletics, she likes to hang out with her friends.

She received scholarship offers from several other JCs including Lamar and Otero.

"Annie can definitely play at the next level. She has been such a consistent player for us all four years of high school. She has been to clinics. College coaches have told she has the talent to play and the skills needed. Annie has that passion for volleyball," coach Mortensen said.