Panthers place third at state tournament

Panthers place third at state tournament

November 13, 2001

CASEY BAUER (10) of the Montezuma-Cortez High School volleyball team goes up for a kill during action in a Class 4A Semifinal game on Saturday afternoon at the State Volleyball Championships in the Denver Coliseum. The Panthers were defeated by Fort Morgan in the game and settled for a third-place finish. Bauer, who will sign an NCAA National Letter of Intent with Division I Colorado State University early Wednesday morning, was named to the Class 4A All-Tournament Team.

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

DENVER — For the third time since the early 1990s, Montezuma-Cortez High School finished in third place at the Class 4A State Volleyball Championships. The Panthers placed third under then coach Sharon Peterson in 1993. MCHS took third in 1999 and now this year under head coach Lindy Mortensen.

"I’m very proud of the kids," Mortensen said. "Third place is really outstanding. I can’t say anything bad about the way the kids played for the whole tournament."

As for no. 8 seed Dolores in Class 2A, the Bears improved from two years ago when they didn’t win any games to just missing the playoffs by winning one of three games — upsetting top-seed Heritage Christian — in pool play. However, they got lucky and played in a one-game playoff but lost to Heritage Christian.

Cortez, the top seed in the tourney this year, won its first two games in pool play — beating Glenwood Springs and Brighton — before falling to its old nemesis Mullen in the last game of pool play on Friday, Nov. 9, and then losing to perennially strong and eventual state-runner up Fort Morgan in the cross-bracketed semi-finals on Saturday, Nov. 10, in the Denver Coliseum.

In the semifinals, the Panthers took on Fort Morgan. With the score tied 1-1, Fort Morgan’s Paige Good stepped up to the service line. When she got done serving, Cortez was down 1-8. The Panthers, uncharacteristically, made mistake after mistake including several hitting errors, going into the net, and just miss-communication in watching the ball drop in between two of them watching it.

The Panthers sprang back to life and scored a couple points with Merina Lippis serving. After the Mustangs added a point, Cortez scored a couple more. Casey Bauer made a kill for one of those. With Colette Hall serving, MCHS reeled off three straight points to pull within 8-9. Bauer made another while Fort Morgan made several mistakes. The teams traded eight sideouts. A block by Hall tied the game at 9-all. Fort Morgan went up 9-11 and it was close again at 10-11 but the Panthers could get no closer. Fort Morgan scored the final four consecutive points with Amanda Rebol serving. Lindsey Baumgartner made a kill, Chelsea Wetzel made a block. The final point came when Cortez knocked the ball into the net for the final 10-15 score in the first game.

Cortez started out better in the second game, taking a 2-0 lead. But moments later, Fort Morgan was on top 2-3. MCHS pulled ahead 4-3, one of those points was an over-the-back hit by Bauer which landed in between two Fort Morgan players. The Mustangs tied the game at 4-4 and went up 4-7. The Panthers pulled close at 5-8, thanks to a down-the-line kill by Bauer. The teams traded points before Fort Morgan bolted to 6-11 lead when Mortensen called time out. Two kills by Cami Martin put Fort Morgan ahead 6-13. Cortez scored once more on an ace serve by Stefanie Allison. But that was it as the Mustangs scored the final two points at 6-15.

"Fort Morgan has a great team. We did not play poorly against Fort Morgan, they just beat us," Mortensen commented.

Mullen defeated the Panthers in the final game of pool play on Friday evening. Cortez lost 15-10, 2-15, 9-15. Mullen seems to have Cortez’ number, defeating MCHS by two points in the third game last year in pool play and beating MCHS in the semifinals by two points in third game the year before.

In the opener, Cortez jumped out to a 4-1 when Mullen made several unforced errors. Cortez led 5-2 a few minutes later. Mullen pulled within a point at 5-4. A few minutes later Mullen pulled ahead 6-7. The Panthers regrouped and moved out to a 9-7 lead, thanks to a Bauer kill. Cortez led 10-9 and then went up 11-9 on a kill by Allison. The teams traded eight sideouts before MCHS scored on a spike by Bauer. Allison made two blocks in a row for the 15-10 win.

The Panthers got off to a slow start in the second game, falling behind 2-5 when MCHS called time. Mullen increased its lead 2-9 on a kill by Cristina Wamsley and a cross-court kill by Tara Martin. MHS went up 2-13 a couple sideouts later. Wamsley made two successive kills for the final points for the 2-15 score.

This forced a third game. The teams battled hard. They had 14 sideouts with only three points by each team in an already long game. The points came a little faster from there. Cortez led 7-5 with two of those scores coming on an ace by Bauer and a block by Allison. Mullen took the lead for good at 7-8. It increased the lead to 7-11 when Mortensen called time. The Panthers pulled within 9-11 but could get no closer. Mullen scored the final four straight points for the 9-15 win.

"We should have beaten Mullen. I really thought this year we were going to beat them. We played poorly in that second game and then we couldn’t recover in the third," she added.

The Panthers opened pool play by taking on Glenwood Springs, a team they had beaten in the semifinals of the District VII Tournament played a couple weeks earlier.

In the first game, MCHS moved ahead 7-0. Bauer made a tip, a block, a power spike, and a tip for points during that span. The teams traded several sideouts before GSHS scored a point. But soon the Demons had pulled within 5-7. Glenwood Springs went ahead 8-9, thanks to a block Summer Moore. The Demons continued to play well and led 8-12. They got on the verge of winning at 9-14 when Crystal Carver made an ace for the 14th point. But Bauer went to work with a pair of kills behind the serving of Hall. Bauer continued to make precision kills and the Panthers tied the game at 14-all. GSHS went up 14-15 before the game was tied 15-all. GSHS made the final two points for the win, capitalizing on MCHS miscues for a 15-17 score. MCHS zipped out to a 6-1 lead and later led 8-3. Thanks to the steady play of Bauer, Allison, and Hall, the Panthers led 11-4. MCHS increased its advantage to 4-13. Emily Harclerode made an ace and then GSHS made a mistake for the final 15-4 score.

MCHS went ahead 5-1 early in the third quarter. The Panthers increased their lead to 11-3. Allison made a hard hit for a kill, Bauer made a kill, and Lindsey Wilson a push for points during that run. MCHS scored the final points when Hall went up for a block, and two nice spikes by Allison for the final 15-3 score.

The Panthers took on Brighton to next in the tournament early Friday afternoon. Cortez took an early 8-3 lead. Bauer, Allison, and Wilson played well at the net making blocks, tips, and kills. MCHS increased its lead to 11-5. Bauer made a tip and spike for points. The Panthers scored four points and BHS two over the next few minutes for the 15-7 victory.

MCHS jumped out to a 6-2 lead. The Panthers’ advantage grew to 11-2 thanks to an ace by Hall and Bauer, and a kill by Bauer. Brighton rallied for three points. The Bulldogs then made error after error. MCHS won 15-7. The Panthers finished the season with a 28-3 overall record.

In the Class 4A championship game late Saturday afternoon, Amanda Wiggins led Lewis-Palmer to a 3-15, 15-6, 15-9 win over Fort Morgan. The win gave Lewis-Palmer, last year's runner-up, its first volleyball state title since 1993. Lewis-Palmer (29-3) had lost to the Mustangs during pool play on Friday and that seemed to reflect its play in that first game. But then Wiggins went to work, making kill after kill. Wiggins just dominated play. Her Ranger teammates then picked up the pace. Wiggins made 19 kills but Catherine Beulke supported Wiggins on the attack with 11 kills.

Fort Morgan (28-3) received 15 kills from Baumgartner and 10 from fellow senior Natasha Huhndorf.

Bauer capped her fine performance in the tournament by being named to the All-Tournament Team. Joining her were, Wiggins of Lewis-Palmer, Amy Bladow of Lewis-Palmer (MVP), Baumgartner of Fort Morgan, and Huhndorf of Fort Morgan.

Meanwhile in 2A action, Dolores almost made the cross-bracket semifinals, losing to Heritage Christian, 11-15 in a hard-fought match on Saturday. That loss eliminated the Bears from going into the semifinals. The Eagles capitalized on several DHS mistakes early in the match and cruised to a 1-6 lead. Heritage Christian continued to play well and went up 3-10. Amanda Cross did make a nice kill for Dolores. Jessica Westlund made an ace which put the Eagles up 3-12. Dolores scored the next two points off a cross-court kill by Sarah Nielson. The teams traded several sideouts before the Bears scored a couple more points. Amanda Cross made kill and Joni Everett a block for points. Dolores pulled up 9-13. By a pair of aces — one by Rchael Melby and another by Westlund — ended the game.

Ironically, Dolores opened the tourney by absolutely dominating the Eagles in first game of pool play early Friday morning, winning 15-9. With the score tied 2-2 in the first game, Cross served her team to a 7-2 lead. Jennifer Cross served for an ace and soon DHS was up 10-3. Heritage Christian caught fire and scored the next three points. Dolores added one and HC School another for an 11-8 count. Dolores then scored four and HCS one. Ashley Smith and Nielson made kills during that span.

In the second game, HCS raced off to a quick 3-6 lead. HCS increased its lead to 3-10. However, Dolores pulled within four at 6-10. A block by Amanda Cross seemed to spark the team. With HCS holding a slim 9-12 lead, Dolores dominated play. Behind the steady serving of Jennifer Cross, the Bears scored the next six points in a row for a 15-12 game win and match win.

Byers was next on tap for the Bears. Byers played well not only at the net but also in the backcourt. The Bulldogs took an early 3-6 in the first game. Katrina Reed made two aces. BHS was soon up 4-10, taking advantage of several DHS hitting mistakes. Eight sideouts later, DHS scored again on a kill by Everett. DHS didn’t give up and only trailed 8-12. The Bears then tied the game at 12-12. Byers scored the final three points for the 12-15 win.

In the second contest, Byers took a 5-0 lead. Jennifer Cross made a kill by that was it. The rest of the game was all Byers. Sarah Hoyer made an ace and two more were recorded by Rebecca Yockey. Dolores made several mistakes in the 1-15 loss.

The Bears’ final game in pool play late Friday afternoon was against Swink. The game went back and forth during the early going of the first game. Swink led 1-3 on kills by Emily Hiza. Swink later led 2-8. But Dolores played better and tied the game at 8-8. During that span, Amanda Cross made a kill, Smith a kill, and Nielson a block. Swink then went to work and led 8-13. Dolores, after several sideouts, finally scored another point. With the Lions on the verge of winning at 8-14, the Bears scored two quick points but lost 11-15.

Dolores led early 2-1 in the second game. Swink took advantage of several DHS miscues to lead 2-5. Dolores went up 6-5. The game was tied at 8-8 and 9-9. Swink then led 9-12 but DHS came back thanks to a kill by Amanda Cross which made the score 10-12. Swink regrouped at that point. Five sideouts later, Swink scored off a bad set. A block and a kill by Elise Hiza ended the game at 10-15.

Strasburg, which finished as the state runner-up in 1998 and 1999, was looking like it was going to win this year’s tourney. But Swink, which had made several appearances at the state tournament without ever reaching the finals, was coming on strong. Neither school had ever won a state championship in volleyball. Swink jumped out to big leads and won easily, 15-3, 15-5 to win the tourney title.

Swink (27-3) took a 7-0 lead in the first game. The Lions later went up 10-1 advantage in the second game. The Indians (26-5) got no closer than 7-3 in the first game and 10-2 in the second.

Elise Hiza led Swink (27-3) with nine kills in the final, but she had plenty of help from both her teammates and the many miscues committed by Strasburg. Hiza's younger sister, freshman Emily Hiza, recorded six kills, while Jessica Stewart added three.