With three entirely different sets of motivation, a trio of Aurora teams enter the Class 5A state volleyball tournament with eyes on the big prize.
Cherokee Trail hopes to finish a season beset with trials and tragedy with the state championship it had envisioned since the summer.
Grandview wants to live up to its rich state tournament tradition and cap a phenomenal career for retiring coach Patty Childress with a third straight state championship.
And Regis Jesuit wants to make the most of its chance after some frustratingly close previous trips to the Denver Coliseum.
The three city teams will be among the 12 that qualified for the Nov. 13-14 state tournament, which looks to be wide open for the team that gets hot.
That team could very well be Cherokee Trail, as coach Terry Miller has seen his team overcome tremendous adversity with the death of a teammate and the loss of another key player to injury.
Those things might have derailed most teams, but the Cougars banded together to claim the Centennial League championship and finish the regular season 21-4.
Cherokee Trail is seeded No. 2 overall and leads Pool II, which also includes No. 7 Cherry Creek and No. 11 Regis Jesuit.
“Now that we’re there, we’re just going to continue to do what we’ve been doing,” Miller said after his team swept Fossil Ridge in the 5A Region 3 championship match. “We’ve played hard and with heart, resiliency and determination and that’s going to be the theme when we go to state.”
While Cherokee Trail clearly has the talent and cohesion to capture the state championship, senior outside hitter Shannon Webb has a short term goal: win a match, then go from there.
Webb will make her fourth trip to the state tournament with the Cougars and has yet to experience a victory of any sort.
Cherokee Trail lost in five sets to Grandview and three sets to Highlands Ranch last year in pool play, lost to Doherty and Arapahoe in 2013 and fell to Legend and Chaparral in 2012.
“Winning a match would be awesome,” Webb said. “This is a veteran team, so we won’t be scared of the Coliseum floor. That can be intimidating sometimes, but I don’t think we’re going to be intimidated this time. We’ve gone in there before scared of the moment but we’ve talked about owning the moment this time and how special this is for us.”
Grandview would also like to make it a special moment for Childress, who has had an illustrious career with Wolves that has included 10 state championship match appearances since 2003.
The Wolves lost five starters from last season and experienced a regular season that was uneven at times, but had its moments. Grandview (17-8) dealt Cherokee Trail one of its only losses and has hung with
Childress is maybe less sure of how this state tournament will turn out than any other in the past and she’s just trying to keep her team from pressing.
“I see such moments of greatness that you want all the time, which is why there has been some frustration,” Childress said. “I think the kids are taking a lot of pressure on themselves and having a lot of anxiety about living up to expectations. I’m trying to help them get over that feeling of anxiety…Our tradition can be a great thing as far as pushing them, but it also comes with the price of pressure at times.”
Grandview’s improving ability to turn defense into offense — which played a big role in a three-set win over Fort Collins and a four-set victory over Prairie View in the 5A Region 8 tournament — has Childress encouraged.
Seniors Madisen Busler and Frachesca Reed have been Grandview’s big weapons, but junior Marina Schlaepfer on the outside and junior Madison Fleer in the middle have shown signs of making the Wolves, who sit in Pool III with No. 3 Chaparral and No. 10 Denver East, more difficult to defend.
Regis Jesuit — which beat Grandview in its season opener — has also had the type of regular season that has coach Laura Dunston unsure of how her team will perform at state.
The only team in the state tournament field with double-digit losses, the Raiders (14-11) still had a big win over nemisis Cherry Creek, one of its opponents in Pool II play, at the regular season-ending Legend Tournament and have grown familiar with Cherokee Trail over the years as the teams virtually mirrored each other in the jump from 4A to 5A.
Regis Jesuit small group of seniors, including impactful outside hitters Taylor Smith and Mary Raitt, remember the feeling of losing in last season’s semifinals (to Grandview) and hope to take that next step.
“They want to go to the final match, they really said that, ‘we want to go all the way to the end,” Dunston said. “We’ll see if we can do that this year, but we’re just excited that we made it. It’s been a rough season and we don’t have the world’s best record, but we got to where we wanted to get.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. FB: Aurora Prep Sentinel
CHEROKEE TRAIL LEADERS: Kills — Shannon Webb 424 (4.7 kps), Kenzie Hendon 293 (3.4 kps); Service aces — Robyn Krause 46, Kenzie Hendon 40, Victoria Petry 39; Blocks — Mollee Picchione 98 (23 solo, 75 assists), Londyn Johnson 88 (18 solo, 70 assists); Digs — Mehana Fonseca 395 (4.5 dps), Kenzie Hendon 210 (2.4 dps), Shannon Webb 207 (2.3 dps); Assists — Robyn Krause 689 (8.5 aps), Emily Longnecker 108 (1.4 aps); GRANDVIEW LEADERS: Kills — Madisen Busler 402 (4.2 kps), Frachesca Reed 292 (3.0 kps), Marina Schlaepfer 182 (2.0 kps); Service aces — Marina Schlaepfer 53, Madisen Busler 32, Racheal Rupprecht 29, Raychel Reed 29; Blocks — Frachesca Reed 103 (29 solo, 74 assists), Madison Fleer 42 (7 solo, 35 assists); Digs — Raychel Reed 502 (5.2 dps), Madisen Busler 310 (3.3 dps), Racheal Rupprecht 269 (2.8 dps); Assists — Emma Heaton 521 (5.4 aps), Angelica Juan 404 (4.2 aps); REGIS JESUIT LEADERS: Kills — Taylor Smith 369 (3.8 kps), Alex Osredker 253 (2.7 kps), Mary Raitt 167 (2.2 kps); Service aces — Taylor Smith 50, Jenna Heinemeyer 30; Blocks — Alex Osredker 86 (48 solo, 38 assists), Noelle Cahill 67 (48 solo, 19 assists), Liz Koch 53 (32 solo, 22 assists); Digs — Jenna Heinemeyer 404 (5.1 dps), Taylor Smith 354 (3.6 dps), Mary Raitt 236 (3.1 dps); Assists — Kasandra Sturges 847 (9.1 aps
2015 CLASS 5A STATE VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
POOL I: No. 1 Chatfield, No. 8 Fairview, No. 12 Coronado; POOL II: NO. 2 CHEROKEE TRAIL, No. 7 Cherry Creek, NO. 11 REGIS JESUIT; POOL III: No. 3 Chaparral, NO. 6 GRANDVIEW, No. 10 Denver East; POOL IV: No. 4 Rock Canyon, No. 5 Legend, No. 9 Arapahoe
NOV. 13 (POOL PLAY)
Match 1 (Pool IV): No. 9 Arapahoe vs. No. 4 Rock Canyon, 8 a.m.; Match 2 (Pool I): No. 12 Coronado vs. No. 1 Chatfield, immed. following; Match 3 (Pool II): NO. 11 REGIS JESUIT vs. NO. 2 CHEROKEE TRAIL, immed. following; Match 4 (Pool III): No. 10 Denver East vs. No. 3 Chaparral, immed. following; Match 5 (Pool IV): No. 5 Legend vs. No. 4 Rock Canyon, immed. following; Match 6 (Pool I): No. 8 Fairview vs. No. 1 Chatfield, immed. following; Match 7 (Pool II): No. 7 Cherry Creek vs. NO. 2 CHEROKEE TRAIL, immed. following; Match 8 (Pool III): NO. 6 GRANDVIEW vs. No. 3 Chaparral, immed. following
NOV. 14 (POOL PLAY, SEMIFINALS, CHAMPIONSHIP)
Match 9 (Pool IV): No. 9 Arapahoe vs. No. 5 Legend, 8 a.m.; Match 10 (Pool I): No. 12 Coronado vs. No. 8 Fairview, immed. following; Match 11 (Pool II): NO. 11 REGIS JESUIT vs. No. 7 Cherry Creek, immed. following; Match 12 (Pool III): No. 10 Denver East vs. NO. 6 GRANDVIEW, immed. following
Semifinals (immed. following pool play): Pool I winner vs. Pool IV winner; Pool II winner vs. Pool III winner
Championship: Semifinal winners, approx. 7 p.m.
