Simla's perfect streak ends against Hoehne

DENVER - Simla’s dreams of a perfect season and Class 2A state volleyball championship were dashed. The Cubs fell just short, losing 25-14, 16-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-13 to two-time state champion Hoehne (30-1) on Saturday at the Denver Coliseum.

The Cubs (30-1) were hoping to capture the state title under coach Sue Snyder, who led them to titles in 1994 and 1996, but she was proud of the way they played throughout despite falling short of a third.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my kids,” she said. “They’ve been doing it all season. I think we went down fighting pretty hard.”

The depth and versatility of the Farmers wore Simla down.

“This was a full-team effort, from the freshman serving at the end to the seniors,” Hoehne coach Kathy Neve said.

Snyder thought the Farmers’ defense was a key to a match between teams that met in the regional final last weekend, with Simla winning in five games.

“They played good defense and defense converts to offense,” Snyder said. “Hoehne is a very good team, well coached. We have a lot of respect for each other.”

The Cubs looked nervous at the outset of Game 1, giving up three early points before stringing together four points of their own. The game remained close until the Farmers reeled off six straight points to open it up.

“We were pretty nervous in that first game,” Simla senior RaeLynn Snyder said. “But we got all those nerves out and we knew we could come back. We weren’t panicked in that second

game at all.”

The final three games featured both teams going on extended scoring runs. The Farmers spread the ball around, with five players recording kills, while the Cubs relied on the heavy hitting of Snyder and Tompkins, who seemed to come up with big kills whenever the Farmers would grab the momentum.

Snyder finished with 29 kills, Tompkins had 20 and Caroline Alexander racked up 51 assists. Dawn Jenkins anchored the defense with 43 digs, while Elly Alexander did a little of everything, including making five blocks and 16 digs.

The loss was a disappointing end to a near perfect season for RaeLynn Snyder.

“I’m pretty crushed,” RaeLynn Snyder said. “It stinks losing that close. But going out with only one loss, it could have been a lot worse.”

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