Five Aurora teams went into Class 5A regional play Nov. 9-10, but only two came out with berths in the 5A state tournament Nov. 14-16 at the Denver Coliseum.
Cherokee Trail and Grandview both earned return trips to the state tournament by winning regionals — Region 2 and Region 8, respectively — on their home floors, while Eaglecrest, Vista PEAK and Rangeview had their seasons come to an end.
Coach Terry Miller’s Cherokee Trail went into regional play seeded No. 2 overall and that’s where they remain for the state tournament after topping No. 35 ThunderRidge in four sets and No. 23 Doherty in three.
The Cougars (23-2) joined No. 1 Chaparral, No. 3 Legend and No. 4 Valor Christian as teams with byes in the first round and will wait to play for the first time until 6:30 p.m. Nov. 14 against either No. 10 Cherry Creek or No. 7 Fort Collins.
Coach Rob Graham’s Grandview team handled Fossil Ridge in three sets and Loveland in four sets to earn its back-to-back state berth.
The Wolves also retained their No. 8 overall seed and will play the first match of the 5A state tournament Nov. 14 when they take on No. 9 Ralston Valley at 8 a.m. A win would send them to a match against No. 1 Chaparral at 2:30 p.m.
The state tournament is a double-elimination format that allows teams one more chance in the contenders bracket after they suffer their first loss. Full match schedules, here.
Eaglecrest — a semifinal team last season — came up a handful of points shy of returning after the 11th-seeded Raptors suffered a heartbreaking five-set loss to No. 14 Mountain Vista Nov. 9. Coach Tanya Bond’s Eaglecrest team finished 19-6.
EMAC champion Vista PEAK hadn’t lost two matches in a row all season until Region 12 play Nov. 10 at Chatfield, where the 25th-seeded Bison (18-7) dropped competitive three-set matches to host and 12th-seeded Chatfield and No. 13 and eventual regional champion Cherry Creek.
Rangeview, the No. 32 seed, dropped matches to host and No. 5 Broomfield and No. 20 Heritage to see its season come to an end at 13-12.
Courtney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports