AURORA | In front of a massive home crowd, the Cherokee Trail girls volleyball team fed off the energy in the building on its way to a sweep of Denver East Tuesday night.
Coach Harry Hendon’s Cougars — who sit just outside the top 10 in CHSAANow.com’s latest Class 5A coaches poll — evened its record at 1-1 after an opening loss at Legend by holding off the Angels for a 25-22, 25-17, 25-19 victory,.
Senior Ariana Heyneman finished with eight kills, senior Sanaa Grant added seven and senior Kaci Young had a handful for Cherokee Trail, which got 21 assists from senior Zoe Ackerman. Junior Willow Snow added 11 digs and junior Emily Schwab chipped in nine digs and eight assists to help the Cougars.
Cherokee Trail built a large advantage in the opening set, but Denver East pulled back to as close as two points before the Angels sent a serve long on set point. The other two sets weren’t easy, but the Cougars handled them to get into the win column for the first time.
Next up for Cherokee Trail is a 6:30 p.m. Thursday home match with Mountain Vista (1-0), which knocked off defending Class 5A state champion Cherry Creek in its opener.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports