NCAA volleyball opening round in Fort Collins loaded with familiar Aurora faces

For fans of Aurora prep volleyball, the opening rounds of the 2014 Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournament will be a treat.

The courts at Colorado State University will be packed with former city prep stars on Friday and Saturday, when the Rams play host the University of Denver at 6:30 p.m. with the winner set to face either Colorado or Northern Colorado at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 6.

Denver has been steadily collecting some of Aurora’s best players over the past few seasons and it is paying off, as the Pios went 27-6, won the Summit League Championship and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time.

A whopping five members of Denver’s 14-player roster played in Aurora high school programs, with three from Eaglecrest — setter Bailey Karst, middle blocker Ruth Okoye and defensive specialist/libero Taylor Loyd — plus middle blocker Sarah Schmid, a former Regis Jesuit standout, and ex-Grandview star Erica Denney.

Both seniors — Karst (Ohio) and Denney (Penn State), who was part of Grandview’s undefeated 2007 Class 5A state championship team — arrived at Denver via transfer, while junior Schmid, sophomore Okoye and freshman Loyd signed with the Pioneers out of high school.

All five Aurora players have appeared in at least 51 sets for Denver, with Schmid having played 117 of the team’s 119 sets on the season, while Karst has logged 116, Okoye 115 and Denney 100. Karst averages a team-best 10.92 assists per set, while Okoye (265) is just ahead of Schmid (248) for third place on the team in total kills for the season.

The former Aurora players on the Denver roster have thrown a season-long block party, as the 6-foot-5 Denney (99), 6-1 Schmid (98) and 6-1 Okoye (92) are all just short of 100 for the season. Loyd, who played outside hitter in high school by necessity, has appeared in 51 matches.

Even the Denver coaching staff has Aurora ties, with former Grandview star libero Katelin Batten — who coincidentally played at Colorado State and graduated in 2010 — serves as one of two assistant coaches to head coach Jesse Mahoney. Batten was part of the Wolves’ back-to-back 5A state championship teams in 2004 and 2005.

On the Colorado State roster is former Grandview standout setter Grace Gordon, who played two seasons at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (2012-2013) following her high school career, during which she made the Aurora Sentinel’s All-City Volleyball Team three times. The 5-foot-7 Gordon has yet to appear in a match this season for the Rams, who are 29-2.

Neither Northern Colorado or Colorado has Aurora players on the roster.

Former Regis Jesuit standout middle blocker Janae Hall is also playing in the NCAA tournament, as her University of Kansas team plays the University of Arkansas-Little Rock in the opening round, while ex-Cherokee Trail star libero Branen Berta will suit up for Iowa State to play Western Kentucky Dec. 5.

— Sports Editor Courtney Oakes