Cheyenne Mountain dispatches area’s 5A best

Cheyenne Mountain's goal is to win the Class 4A state championship, a prize the Indians were just one victory away from last season.

Along the way, the Indians - who are No. 1 in the Pikes Peak rankings - are beating up on the area's best 5A teams.

They added No. 3 Pine Creek to the growing list of victims with a decisive 25-15, 25-14, 25-14 victory at Cheyenne Mountain on Tuesday. They've already beaten No. 4 Rampart and No. 2 Doherty.

The Indians dropped only one game to Doherty en route to a 3-0 start.

"We'll have to work hard to get back to the championship game but we want to win it all," said Indians senior setter Ellyn Barkley. "It's on everybody's mind."

The Indians (3-0) seem to have all the ingredients: experience, talent, athleticism, savvy and chemistry.

"We've got a lot of depth, too," Barkley said. "We played a lot of subs tonight and it didn't make any difference. That helps in practice because it's so competitive."

The Indians used runs of 8-0 and 7-0 to break open Game 2 and a 14-4 spurt to decide the finale.

Coach David Barkley praised Megan Molner, Taylor Luker and Kristie Kurtz for outstanding play.

Pine Creek (1-1), a customary qualifier for the 5A state tourney, beat Chatfield but is rebuilding while facing a difficult schedule. The Eagles play powers Eaglecrest and Grandview before entering the Eaglecrest tournament.

"We'll win some games or find out what we need.," said Pine Creek coach Paul Waring.The Eagles will soon welcome senior transfer Sydney Nelson, who should aid senior hitter Carly Serratore (four kills) and sophomore standouts Nicole Glass (eight) and Lindsay Weaver (four).

"We've got a lot of young people and we're trying to come together," said senior Kelsi Klikus, a three-year starter. "Consistency is what we need to work on."