Lady Bulldogs punch ticket to State Volleyball Championships

The Haxtun Lady Bulldogs punched their ticket to the 2021 State Volleyball tournament following a Championship finish at the Region C Tournament in Haxtun Saturday afternoon. The Lady Bulldogs earned a third place seed in the Colorado State Volleyball Tournament set for later this week at the Broadmoor Arena in Colorado Springs. A first round bye puts the team on the court for a 5 p.m. contest on Thursday, Nov. 11 in their first outing in the State competition.

A top-three finish in State standings following regular-season play gave the Lady Bulldogs home court advantage for Regionals. Haxtun hosted Evangelical Christian and McClave for Region C action on Saturday afternoon. The first contest of the day pitted the Lady Bulldogs against the bottom ranked Evangelical Christian Eagles. Haxtun took set one 25-12 and a commanding second set, 25-3. A closer third set made things more interesting but Haxtun inched ahead for a 25-18 win for a sweep in game one.

The Lady Bulldogs sat for game two while Evangelical Christian took on McClave. McClave would go on to win that contest in four sets. The third contest of the day pitted Haxtun versus McClave, the winner advancing to the State Tournament. Set one went to the Lady Bulldogs, 25-14. Haxtun went on to take set two, 25-12 and set three, 25-8, for the second sweep of the day. The win punched the Lady Bulldogs' ticket to State, keeping their season alive another week.

Two seniors totaled double-digits in the kills department on Saturday. Allie Thompson put down 28 kills in her six-set performance in Regionals. Taylor Schram registered 17 kills in her final home-court performance. Cassidy Goddard and Ella Coffin each tallied nine kills.

At the net, Goddard led her team defensively with eight total blocks. Coffin registered five followed by Megan Walker and Thompson, each with three blocks. Schram had two blocks on the day.

In the service department, Thompson served 100 percent in both matches while also leading her team with five aces. Schram registered four aces while Coffin added three and Goddard put over two perfect serves. The Lady Bulldogs served 94.7 percent against Evangelical Christian and 92.3 percent against McClave.

Senior setters Schram and Thompson combined for 60 sets on Saturday afternoon. Schram put up 36 assists to her hitters; Thompson added 24.

In the back row, libero K'lyn Bornhoft led the Lady Bulldogs with stellar numbers. She put up 21 passes on serve receive and tailled 15 digs as the back row specialist. Coffin registered 21 digs and 18 passes on serve receive. Grace Gibson tallied seven passes on serve receive. Thompson registered eight digs followed by Walker with seven.

The Championship finish at Regionals along with RPI standings and seating procedures from the Colorado High School Athletic Association seeded the Haxtun Lady Bulldogs at number three in the 1A State Volleyball bracket. Briggsdale took the top seed followed by Fleming in two, Haxtun in three, Merino fourth and Wiley fifth. The Lady Bulldogs have faced off with each of the other four teams holding top five spots; earning wins over Fleming, Merino and Wiley during the regular season. Haxtun matched up with Briggsdale in the first outing this season suffering a two-set loss at the Julesburg tournament.

Haxtun earned a first-round bye in the 12-team bracket, which pits them in a competition against the winner of sixth seeded Stratton and 11th seeded Bellview Christian at 5 p.m. this Thursday. Should the Lady Bulldogs win, they will face either Fleming or the winner of Idalia and Flatirons Academy on Friday afternoon. Colorado State Volleyball Championships for all classifications will be held at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs.

For real-time updates on game outcomes and court times, visit https://www.maxpreps.com/tournament/zL8T6TEYEeyAz5TgcHt2rg/Oj-vbTEjEeyAz5TgcHt2rg/volleyball-fall-21/2021-chsaa-state-volleyball-championships-class-1a.htm.