One of only two spring prep sports basically unaffected by weather — boys volleyball — has had quite a memorable start to the season.
Near the midway point of the campaign, which is working its way towards the May 9-11 state tournament at Overland High School, came the matchup of the season.
Eaglecrest, last season’s state runner-up, and state tournament qualifier Cherokee Trail — both off to outstanding starts — clashed on April 4 and put on a show. In a match that included elite skill, smart shot-making and huge surges of momentum, the host Cougars prevailed in five sets.
Coach Mike Thomsen’s Cherokee Trail team pulled an epic reverse sweep, as it prevailed 22-25, 24-26, 25-17, 25-19, 15-11 to come off the ropes against coach Chad Bond’s team, which was the verge of capturing what would have been a big sweep. The top talent on both teams rose to the occasion, as senior Chase Jensen racked up 21 kills, and senior John Clinton added 17 for the Cougars to counter a 15-kill performance from Eaglecrest junior standout Jackson Shaw and double digits from two other Raptors.
“I think we were down a little bit mentally in those first two sets, then the net three we played the kind of volleyball CT wants to play,” said Jensen, who was successful on nearly half of his 51 attacks. “It was exciting. We really trusted each other, and it was all a team effort in the end.”
Cherokee Trail followed that up with a four-set win over Regis Groff and sweep of Mullen to extend its winning streak to to eight matches and improve to 10-1. The Cougars have a key match ahead April 11 as they play Littleton Public Schools at Arapahoe High School in a match between co-Centennial League leaders.
Cherokee Trail also has an April 19 road match looming against Discovery Canyon, winner of the past two championships and a team that is 11-0 this season and has won all 33 sets it has played thus far.
Coach Chad Bond’s Eaglecrest team won its first nine matches, a hot start he believed was partially due to the teams on the schedule. He greatly valued matches such as losses to LPS (in four sets) and Cherokee Trail (in five) in how they will help his team grow.
The Raptors feature Shaw, who ranks second in the state in total kills with 108, while sophomore setter Dillan Ancheta ranks third in the state with 216 assists.
“We played hard and we just battled,” Bond said after the Cherokee Trail loss. “It doesn’t always have to come out your way to be fun and to learn something. The key is what you do with those losses. We’ve done well (with that) in the past, so if we can continue that and change a couple of things, we’ll be in a good place.”
Vista PEAK Prep was the first Aurora program to reach10 wins and has been particularly outstanding since reaching City League play, as the Bison have yet to lose in 18 sets of conference play after a sweep of Rangeview.
Coach Jeffry Ransom’s Bison have a centerpiece in junior Tristan Rowley, an outside hitter who has racked up 3.3 kills per set so far this season, while senior setter Kaiyan Ivey is second in the state in total assists with 229.
Also at 10 wins is Regis Jesuit, which counts a tournament victory over Cherokee Trail among them. Four of the losses for coach Kristi Gauss’ Raiders came in either five sets in a regular match or in three in tournament play, including a five-set loss to Douglas County April 9.
Hinkley has caught fire since a .500 opening, as coach Paul Reyes’ Thunder own a seven-match winning streak and sit just one game out of the City League lead with help from senior Samuel Addai-Opoku, who ranks in the top 10 in the state in kills. Hinkley has nine wins, as does coach Aaron Williams’ Gateway team, which was unbeaten through eight matches, but dropped three straight before it righted the ship against Denver South.
Rangeview sits even at 6-6 in the early going and coach Deserae Powell’s Raiders join Vista PEAK Prep, Gateway and Hinkley in the upper half of the conference standings.
Grandview has been bolstered by young talent such as freshman Alejandro Garcia, which has helped it off to an 8-3 start after a three-match winning streak. Overland is 4-9, but coach Diane Swan’s team has had recent momentum with successive five-set wins over Valor Christian and Denver East.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
