Panthers top seed in Pool 1 of Class 4A state tourney

Panthers top seed in Pool 1 of Class 4A state tourney

Nov. 9, 2000

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

RETURNING TO STATE are the members of the Montezuma-Cortez High School varsity volleyball team. The Panthers, who won the Region D Tournament Saturday in their own gymasium, are the top seed in Pool 1 of the Class 4A State Volleyball Tournament this Friday and Saturday in the Denver Coliseum. They are (top row, left to right) assistant Trina Walker, Lindsey Wilson, Emilie Lanier, Casey Bauer, Sasha Yarbrough, Liz Dennison, Colette Hall, Andrea Derrick, head coach Lindy Mortensen, manager Courtney James; (bottom row) Denise Newlin, Stefanie Allison, Ashley Swank, Emily Harclerode, and mascot, Shawnee Higgins.

DENVER — After finishing tied for third place (with Berthoud) a year ago, can the Panthers do better than that this year? And doing better than that would mean either a second place or first-place finish at the Class 4A State Volleyball Championships which gets under way Friday morning, Nov. 10, and concludes Saturday evening, Nov. 11, in the Denver Coliseum.

"Yes, I think the girls can go all the way," MCHS head coach Lindy Mortensen said. "I don’t see any reason why they can’t. They will have to play very well and play very consistently without many mistakes. But I think we have a good opportunity."

Why does Mortensen feel this way?

The Panthers have not been seriously challenged since losing in the championship game of the Farmington Tournament way back in early September. They lost to a very good Monument Valley High School team (Kayenta) which has won State in Arizona for several years. The Panthers, since then, wiped out their Southwestern league foes (all in straight sets) en route to the regular season title. They crushed all their foes at the District VII Tournament to win that title. And then last weekend, they beat Cheyenne Mountain, Summit, and Pueblo West in straight sets to win the Region D championship in their home gym.

So the Southwestern League and District VII and Region D champion Panthers enters the State tournament with a sparkling 23-1 record and the top seed in Pool I at the Class 4A State Volleyball Championships in the Denver Coliseum. Action begins at 8 a.m. and MCHS plays in the first match against fourth seed Pine Creek (20-7). They take on Lewis-Palmer (21-6) at about 1 p.m. and Mullen (21-6) at 6 p.m. (times approximate) to end pool play.

Steamboat Springs (23-4) is the third seed in Pool II. The Sailors face Berthoud (22-4), the second seed in the pool, in their opener Friday before taking on top seed Fort Morgan (23-3). Steamboat concludes pool play Saturday morning against fourth seed Summit (20-6).

Here is the complete pool-play schedule: MCHS faces Pine Creek in match 1 at 8 a.m.; Fort Morgan meets Summit in Match 2, Mullen tangles with Lewis-Palmer in Match 3, Berthoud battles Steamboat Springs in Match 4. MCHS takes on Lewis-Palmer in Match 5 (about 1 p.m.), Fort Morgan tangles with Steamboat Springs in Match 6, Mullen meets Pine Creek in Match 7, Berthoud faces Summit in Match 8, MCHS battles Mullen in Match 9 (about 6 p.m.), and Fort Morgan takes on Berthoud in Match 10. Pool play continues Saturday morning with Lewis-Palmer meeting Pine Creek in Match 11, and Steamboat Springs takes on Summit in Match 12.

The top two teams from the two pools in each classification will be cross-bracketed and advance to Saturday's semifinals that morning. The championship matches in all classifications will be played Saturday, starting with the 1A title match at 1 p.m. The Class 4A championship match is set for about 4:30 p.m.

The Panthers qualified for State by beating Cheyenne Mountain 15-1, 15-8.

Cortez took on Summit in the second match of the tournament. The Panthers won 15-9, 15-6 over the Tigers. The Panthers took on Pueblo West in their final match of the day. Cortez won 15-8, 15-5. The match win gave the Panthers the Regional title outright.

Members of the Panther team include sophomore outside hitter/defensive specialist 5-foot-6 Merina Lippis; senior setter 5-7 Emilie Lanier; senior middle blocker 5-7Andrea Derrick; sophomore outside hitter 5-8 Stefanie Allison; sophomore opposite 5-6 Liz Dennison; sophomore defensive specialist 5-5 Emily Harclerode; freshman middle 5-11 Lindsey Wilson; freshman outside 5-8 Sasha Yarbrough; junior outside 6-0 Casey Bauer; junior middle 5-8 Colette Hall; and senior opposite 5-5 Denise Newlin. The manager is Courtney James and the mascot is Shawnee Higgins. Mortensen is assisted by Trina Walker.

When the current volleyball season began, the Class 4A spotlight was squarely on one team. Fort Morgan is the two-time defending champion and with a load of talent returning, was the favorite to win again.

Who are the teams to beat?

Throughout the season, Fort Morgan proved that while it is very good, although it may not be the dominating team it once was. Berthoud, Montezuma-Cortez, Pine Creek and Steamboat Springs all have good teams. But Mullen certainly could also wind up in the title game like it did a year ago.

"There are eight good teams at this year’s tournament," Mortensen said. "Fort Morgan has a new coach this year and it took them a little while to adjust at the beginning of the year but they have an excellent team. We played Fort Morgan last summer. Mullen was at that tournament but we have not played them since last year at State. We played Pine Creek. Berthoud is good with most everyone back. Steamboat Springs was in our district and we played Summit at Regionals. I haven’t seen Lewis-Palmer in a couple of years so I don’t know much about them. They are all strong."