District tourney offers outstanding volleyball

District tourney offers outstanding volleyball

Oct 27, 2001

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

Plenty of volleyball is on tap today, Oct. 27, at Montezuma-Cortez High School and at Telluride High School.

Some outstanding teams and players will be displaying their talent.

At Ron Wright Memorial Gym, no. 2 ranked Class 4A MCHS against Steamboat Springs will complete Pool B play at 10:30 a.m. in the District VII Volleyball Tournament. The tourney opened Friday afternoon, Oct. 26, with MCHS playing Rifle and Delta. Delta and Rifle will finish their final pool game at 9 at MCHS.

In Pool B at Cortez Middle School, Montrose plays Moffat County at 9 a.m. and Glenwood Springs battles Palisade at 10:30.

All the action shifts will be at MCHS in the afternoon. The first semifinal match will feature the top team out of Pool A taking on no. 2 team from Pool B at 1 p.m. The second semifinal match will pit no. 1 Pool B against no. 2 Pool A at 2:30. The losers of those games play at 4 p.m. in the consolation game. The two winners compete at about 5:30 for the title and the no. 1 seed. Admission is $4 for students and seniors and $5 for adults. Only Colorado High School Activities Association passes will be honored.

The top three teams from the tournament advance to next week’s Regionals. MCHS is the defending District VII and Region D champs. The Panthers played in last year’s Class 4A State Tournament. They were a Final Four team at State two years ago. Steamboat Springs also played at last year’s State Tournament.

The top two teams from Regionals advance to the Class 4A State Volleyball Championships Nov. 9-10 in the Denver Coliseum.

MCHS has an impressive 18-1 overall record after zipping through Southwestern League play with a perfect 10-0 mark. The Panthers are led by starters senior outside hitter Casey Bauer, senior middle blocker Colette Hall, junior outside hitter Stefanie Allison, sophomore opposite Sasha Yarbrough, sophomore middle blocker Sasha Yarbrough, and sophomore setter Cassie Carver. Reserves include junior setter Emily Harclerode, junior defensive specialist Merina Lippis, sophomore middle blocker Arista Petillo, sophomore outside hitter Courtnie Lanier, freshman setter Gina Franchini, and freshman opposite Jessie Pickens.

The Panthers are blessed with perhaps two of the best outside hitters in 4A in senior Bauer and junior Allison. Bauer recently set a new state record for most kills in a match with 43 which, ironically, came against Monument Valley High School (Kayenta, Ariz.) in MCHS’s only loss of the season. She leads Class 4A individual statistics with 292 kills so far on the season. She also has 28 solo blocks and has made 17 service aces. Bauer has given an oral commitment to play Division I volleyball at Colorado State University. She will sign during the early signing period beginning Nov. 14.

Allison has 200 kills on the season. Wilson is listed as making 30 blocks and Hall 21. Harclerode is no. 3 on the leaderboard with 391 while up-and-coming Carver has 121.

Moffat County has several listed among the leaders. Amber Sanchez has 76 attacks and Katie Telfer 64. Telfer also has 120 assists. Brandie Telfer has 11 solo blocks.

Elsewhere in Class 4A, Lewis-Palmer is the top-ranked team in 4A. It will be the host for District IV, which plays Saturday. The Rangers have two losses on their record, but they came against Rampart and Smoky Hill.

Fort Morgan is undefeated and ranked no. 3, despite being hard hit by graduation. Senior outside hitter Lindsey Baumgartner has filled in nicely after being sidelined last season because of a knee injury.

The unranked Mustangs also receive key offensive production from Cami Martin and Amanda Rebol, and Alisha Kauffman has turned out to be an able replacement at setter for Scooter Yearous. Brighton is the no. 4 ranked team.

The Class 2A District III Volleyball Tournament will be played all day today at Telluride. The no. 2 rated Miners won the San Juan Basin League outright with a 10-0 record and is the top seed. The Miners, 18-0 overall, also are protected all the way to Regionals, but their seeding will be determined today. Dolores will go in as the no. 2 seed, Mancos no. 3, and Nucla, which defeated Dolores County in a pigtail game Tuesday night, as the no. 4 seed.

Members of the Dolores team include head coach Joye McHenry and players junior outside hitter Sarah Nielson, junior opposite Joni Everett, junior outside hitter Jennifer Cross, junior middle blocker Ann Fecteau, junior setter-opposite Tracy Everett, senior off-hitter Gloria Spada, senior middle blocker Ashley Smith, senior setter Kristen Gutafason, and senior middle blocker Amanda Cross.

Mancos is led by Katie Paxton, Rachel Russell, Lacey Morris, Katie Rosso, Jolene Thomas, Angela Hall, Amy Smith, Cassie Coppinger, Brittany Aspromonte, Kassi Paxton, Tiffany Crites, and Jori Yeomans.

Host Telluride will tangle with the Mustangs at 9 a.m., the Bears will face the Blue Jays at 10:15, Telluride will meet Mancos at 11:30. The matches continue in the afternoon with Dolores facing Nucla at 12:45, Mancos grappling with Nucla at 2 and Dolores battling Telluride at 3:30.

The Miners have several individuals among the best in 2A. Rhea DePagter has six solo and 12 assisted blocks. Inga Johansson has 11 assisted and Sydney Melzer 21 total. Chelsea Padilla has made 68 kills, and Melzer 36. Johansson has 45 assists and DePagter 29.

Dolores’ Amanda Cross shows up on the leaderboard with 44 kills and Joni Everett has 16 aces.

Elsewhere in Class 2A, Swink is the top ranked team with an 18-1 overall record. Heritage Christian is no. 3 rated, Sargent no. 4, and Strasburg no. 5.

The top teams will advance to next week’s Regionals at neutral site Palisade. The Class 2A State Volleyball team is slated for the Coliseum Nov. 9-10.