Theresa Hamilton/Courtesy
The Glenwood Springs girls volleyball team capped its best season in recent history with a 4A Western Slope League title and this past weekend’s Coal Ridge Tournament title.
The Demons’ due is the No. 5 seed going into the 36-team 4A state playoffs, plus the bonus of hosting as one of the 12 regional sites this coming Saturday.
Glenwood (19-4) hosts Region 5 of the playoffs, inviting No. 20 D’Evelyn (15-8) and No. 32 George Washington (12-9) to the Spencer-Chavez Gymnasium for a round-robin format to decide who goes to the 4A state tournament the following weekend.
The Demons open at 10 a.m. Saturday against George Washington. That will be followed by the GW-D’Evelyn match at noon, and then Glenwood vs. D’Evelyn at 2 p.m.
“I’m excited about it,” Glenwood coach Kehau Rust said of the draw. “Any of these schools coming over from the [Front Range] always play tougher teams than what we have over here, so it will be a good challenge for our girls.”
The area’s other representative in the volleyball postseason will be Coal Ridge High School in the Class 3A regionals.
The Titans (17-6), winners of the 3A WSL at 8-1, are the No. 17 seed overall and will head to Region 8, hosted by SkyView Academy in Highlands Ranch.
SkyView enters as the No. 8 seed. That region also includes No. 29 Colorado Academy.
Demons coming in hot
Glenwood Springs topped off a successful season going undefeated in the Coal Ridge tournament Friday and Saturday to keep the momentum going into the postseason.
The weekend included dominating wins over Coal Ridge, Valley, Delta and 4A league rival Palisade in an exciting 2-1 victory (17-25, 25-15, 25-17) on Saturday.
It was a repeat of an Oct. 24 home win over Palisade that handed the Demons the 4A WSL championship at 11-1 in league play — their only league loss coming versus Battle Mountain on Oct. 19.
“It’s always tough to beat a team three times in a season, and we knew Palisade was going to be coming at us hard,” Rust said. “They changed up their game a little, but our girls stepped it up and finished it.
“I think this group has more than just athletic talent,” she said of a young squad that features four seniors, five juniors and several underclassmen. “They’ve been doing a lot of things off the court that make a difference, and they have the mental stability to push through and compete in these postseason games.”
Other WSL representatives in the regionals include Eagle Valley at No. 23, Palisade at No. 17 and Battle Mountain at No. 16.
After going 19-6 during the 2017 season, but losing out in the regional round, the Demons had an off year in 2018, compiling 11 wins to 12 losses.
Glenwood enters the playoffs behind the power hitting of senior Shanik Zambrano and junior Kaitlyn Johnson, who recorded 180 kills and 198 kills, respectively, through the regular season.
Titans toughen up
The junior-heavy Coal Ridge Titans survived a tough 3A WSL that sends three representatives to the postseason.
Cedaredge enters as the No. 11 seed, even though the Bruins finished just behind Coal Ridge in the league standings, and Delta goes in at No. 31.
The Titans scored wins over Delta and 4A Battle Mountain in their home tournament last weekend, while dropping matches to Glenwood Springs and one other 3A opponent, Valley.
Coal Ridge’s front line of juniors Taylor Weiscamp (256 kills, 116 blocks) and Brecken Guccini (192 kills), plus the serving prowess Guccini, Weiscamp and fellow juniors Phoebe Young and Ari Cornejo, has carried the team this season.
Young led the Titans with 167 service points and an ace percentage of 11.2%, followed by Cornejo with 162 service points.
