AURORA | The Cherokee Trail girls volleyball team dropped the first set of each of its two matches at the Class 5A Region 11 tournament on its home floor Saturday, but rallied both times to go 2-0 on the day and advance.
The Cougars defeated No. 26 Westminster 23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-15 and then dispatched No. 14 Broomfield 22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-23 to earn a spot in the Nov. 14-16 5A state tournament at the Denver Coliseum. Cherokee Trail last appeared at state in 2022, but made it in the first season under coach Amber Cornett.
Cornett saw her team dig in and battle back in both matches, which was satisfying, even though it was more nervewracking than she had hoped.
“You go in all pumped and ready and then when you get there, you have to put your money where your mouth is,” Cornett said. “You either pull it out and leave it all out there, or they beat you and you have to walk off with it. We were laden with errors in the first set of both matches, but we did a really good job of coming back.”
Cherokee Trail’s senior-dominated lineup rose to the occasion in regional play, as Kassie Cooley piled up 28 kills between the two matches, while fellow outside hitter Bella Sieve had 26. Senior middle Quincey McCoy racked up 16 blocks, senior Alize Flores had 32 digs and junior Avery Krause dished out 85 assists between the two matches.
In its last appearance at the 5A state tournament in 2022, the Cougars lost both of their matches in five sets.
Cherokee Trail is the lone Aurora team to make the 12-team state field, as No. 17 Regis Jesuit went 0-2 in Region 8 play at Cherry Creek H.S., No. 25 Grandview split two matches in Region 12 at Loveland H.S. and 32nd-seeded Rangeview finished 0-2 in Region 5 at Fossil Ridge H.S.
All 12 of the top seeds going into regionals advanced, so there were no changes in the seeding then the Colorado High School Activities Association released the state bracket Nov. 11.
The Cougars will play No. 6 Pine Creek (22-3) at 11 a.m. Nov. 14 and then will move into the championship or consolation portion of the double elimination tournament depending on the result. Cherokee Trail lost to Pine Creek in four sets at the Ponderosa Tournament late in the regular season.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
