Indians win when rivalry with Air Academy is renewed

Cheyenne Mountain and Air Academy are rivals in nearly every sport. Bitter rivals.

But not volleyball. At least not yet.

“Every year, everybody would ask me if we’re going to beat Air Academy,” Cheyenne Mountain coach David Barkley said. “I would tell that we would if we played them.”

With Cheyenne Mountain’s 25-17, 25-6, 25-21 victory, the rivalry may have been extended by one more sport.

“That was a good match for us; Air Academy’s a good team,” Barkley said. “They have some of the best passers in our league and we were fully aware of that and expected long rallies. I think we rose to the occasion on the long rallies and scored some good transition points.”

Until Tuesday evening’s match, the schools hadn’t played each other in volleyball since Sept. 13, 2007. No player on either side had played a match against the other school.

Realignment placed both schools in the 4A Pikes Peak League this season.

Cheyenne Mountain setter Monique Domme had 23 assists, eight digs, five aces, four kills and a pair of blocks. She also was a great distributor as Maddie Beal had eight kills, Courtney Tibbetts six and Aimee Steinwand and Mara Barkley five each.

“She usually plays well anyway, but Monique Domme had one of her best nights,” Barkley said. “She kept our team in rhythm.”

Cheyenne Mountain (10-2, 2-0) raced to large leads in the first two games, winning both easily.

The Kadets (10-4, 1-1) reeled off eight straight points to build a 17-14 lead in the third, but Cheyenne Mountain responded by scoring 11 of the match’s final 15 points.

The three-time defending 4A state champion, Cheyenne Mountain’s only losses have been to defending 5A champion Chaparral and current 5A No. 1 Doherty. Those are the only losses over the past two seasons.

“There aren’t any better teams at 4A,” Air Academy coach Toni Schone said. “Maybe Lewis-Palmer this year, but Dave Barkley always puts up a tough show.

“We know now where we need to be for the state tournament. This level — it’s quick, it’s fast.”