Colorado Preps Weekly

Season C is rolling along, with half of the regular slate already in the rear-view mirror. Some of the biggest news from the past week involved CHSAA's announcement of a venue for the State volleyball tournament.

The selection of the NORCO Volleyball facility in Loveland was met with a mixed bag of reactions. While some are excited that the featured event will be held in a venue that is dedicated to the sport, others have panned the decision for reasons varying from a lack of seating to its location, nestled among warehouses. All five classifications will play eight team brackets, May 10-11.

Sticking with volleyball, this past week saw a number of intense matches, with many going five sets. Saturday alone had eight matches that went to the limit, with four involving teams from the area.

Swink rallied from down two sets to one to force a fifth set with Springfield, before eventually falling 14-25, 26-24, 13-25, 25-18, 15-17. Both would cruise to 3-0 wins over Custer County in the tri-meet.

In another meeting between teams in different classifications, Class 1A Kiowa outlasted 2A Burlington, 3-2. Both sides won 112 points in the match. Kiowa took the first set 26-24 and the third 25-23. The Cougars took the even numbered sets by counts of 27-25 and 25-21. Kiowa claimed the match victory with a 15-13 fifth set.

Rye had a commanding 2-0 lead over 3A Vanguard, taking the first two sets 25-19 and 25-13. However, the Coursers rallied back to take the match behind wins of 25-17 in both the third and fourth sets and 15-11 in the deciding fifth set. Havilah Pitzer recorded nine blocks in the loss, seven of them solo and Gracie Graham registered 40 digs. Two days earlier, Graham tallied a season-high 47 digs in a 3-2 win over Hoehne.

The last of Saturday's marathons took place in the 3A Patriot, where Eaton and Sterling hooked up in the latest round of their great rivalry. The Reds grabbed a 2-0 lead after winning 25-23 and 25-14, but they would be pushed to the limit when Sterling responded to even the match with 25-21 and 25-13 wins. Eaton, the top-ranked team in the class in last week's poll, regained its footing and took the fifth 15-12.

In other action last week, Stratton/Liberty picked up its first win in seven tries as a co-op over Limon last Tuesday. The Knighted Eagles, who were unranked to begin the season before appearing in the top-10 last week, dropped the first set 18-25, before ripping off three straight to take the match. They won the second and third by identical 25-15 counts and the fourth went their way, 25-18. Junior Kennedy Frank pounded out a game-high 22 kills in the match, while Trista Marx had 17 to lead Limon. Stratton/Liberty followed that with a 3-1 win over Idalia, in what was a meeting of unbeatens. The Knighted Eagles won the first two sets, dropped the third, and trailed 9-1 in the fourth before rallying to take it 25-17.

Two of the top teams in 2A had relatively easy weeks, with Wiggins and Fowler each went 3-0. Wiggins followed a 3-0 sweep of Weldon Valley with a 3-0 win over Akron and a four set victory over Holyoke in the Akron Tri. Fowler did not drop a set in wins over Crowley County, Las Animas and Holly. Both were in the top five last week and those performances show why they were thought of so highly.

Lamar continued its clean slate last week, as the Savages picked up their fourth straight sweep, beating Florence 3-0. The Huskies only won a total of 28 points in the match. Fernanda Merancio had a match-high 13 kills for Lamar and Sydney Dunning added nine. The Savages will play more matches this week than they had coming in. After Tuesday's clash of unbeatens with Manitou Springs, and a Thursday trip to Colorado Springs Christian, the Savages will compete in the Fowler tournament on Saturday. Their schedule includes matches with the hosts, as well as Limon and Sargent.

In boys soccer, Lamar improved to 5-0 with a 2-1 victory over previously fourth-ranked Salida last Thursday. The Savages also won a wild 8-4 match-up with Atlas Prep two days earlier. Heading into this week, Lamar had outscored its opponents 26-8.

Fort Morgan had an interesting week on the pitch in Class 4A. The Mustangs scored twice in the second half to break a 1-1 tie with Severance on Tuesday and picked up the win, 3-1. Two days later, they ran into a hot goalie and fell 3-0 to Frederick. The Mustangs would bounce back on Saturday to blast Riverdale Ridge 5-0. Fort Morgan entered this week 3-3, with a 19-14 scoring edge over the opposition.

Hoehne scored a huge win in football last week. Despite missing four sophomore starters, the Farmers put a 100-64 beating on previously #1 Front Range Christian. That sets up what could be a championship game preview with John Mall on Friday. Those are the only two unbeaten teams in 8-man this spring.

Las Animas improved to 2-1 with a 56-0 drubbing of Custer County. Caden Morlan powered the offense with 195 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries and Justin Miller helped preserve the shutout with a pair of interceptions. The Trojans held Custer County to 139 yards of offense. They will travel to Plateau Valley on Saturday and then have a bye week to prepare for the regular season finale against Hoehne in two weeks.

Finally, in gymnastics, Fort Morgan/Lone Star swept the top spot of the podium in a meet against Loveland last Saturday. Alivia Weathers won the beam and bars, while Elizabeth Miller took home first place finishes in the floor, vault and all-around. The squad has meets at Thornton and Rocky Mountain this week, with regionals looming next weekend. State is just two weeks away.