4A volleyball: Indians wrap up spot in state semifinals

DENVER • Top-seeded Cheyenne Mountain got off to a quick start in its Class 4A title defense, cruising through two matches in pool play Friday to advance to the state semifinals.

No. 5 Lewis-Palmer split its matches at the Denver Coliseum, meaning the Rangers (22-6) likely need to win this morning to keep their semifinal hopes alive.

Check out photos from the opening day of the state tournament.

After winning its opening match in three games, Lewis-Palmer was overmatched by the Indians (28-0).

“Our team battles hard,” said Cheyenne Mountain sophomore Janae Vander Ploeg, whose five kills in the last eight points helped put away the Rangers. “It wasn’t just me that got the kills. It’s the perfect passes by Kayla (Johnson) that help out.”

While Vander Ploeg led the team with a game-high 12 kills, four others contributed at least five. Senior Kendall Gaffney had nine and classmate Natasha Ray had seven.

The victories put the Indians in control of Pool 1. A win over Longmont this morning secures a top seed in a semifinal this afternoon.

“Tomorrow, we want to be first in pool, so we can’t take Longmont for granted,” coach David Barkley said. “They lost to L-P today, but I’ve seen them play. They’re good.”

For the Rangers, it’s a bit murkier, but their win over Longmont was a step in the right direction. After falling to the Trojans last weekend, Lewis-Palmer beat the No. 4 seed 25-14, 25-22, 25-23.

“It was a real important win for us because we had Longmont in our regional and lost to them in four,” Rangers coach Susan Odenbaugh said. “It was kind of a grudge match because we knew we hadn’t played our best so we wanted to come out and play hard. Winning that game in three just built up a lot of confidence.”