Chaparral volleyball coach Amanda West was confident her team would not let down in the Class 5A Region 1, three-team pool play state-qualifying tournament on Nov. 3.
The Wolverines were going against No. 36 Columbine and 24th-seeded Horizon and the winner would gain a position in the double-elimination, Olympic crossover CHSAA state tournament on Nov. 8-10 at the Denver Coliseum.
It would only be natural for the Wolverines to overlook the regional opposition but that didn’t happen as Chaparral notched two easy victories with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-13, 25-14) win over Columbine and a 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-13) triumph over Horizon.
“Being No. 1 for most of the season, we’ve had to continue to keep good focus,” said West. “Our focus has been this match, this point and this touch. We’re just trying to stay focused into every point. We improved as we were playing throughout the day and I was happy at the end of the day.”
Senior Kira Thomsen and Julianna Dalton each had 10 kills and the team had a 50 kill percentage against Columbine. Thomsen followed up with 15 kills and 10 digs against Horizon.
Junior Emma Ammerman had a combined 29 assists in the two regional wins.
“Part of the strength of my team is that we can have a lot of contributors,” emphasized West.
Chaparral (23-2) earned the top seed in the new format state tournament bracket and draws an opening-round bye. The Wolverines will face the winner of the first-round match between Denver East and Chatfield in Chaparral’s first match at 2 p.m. on Nov. 8.
“I think it will be very competitive,” said West. “I’m interested to see how the new format will play out. Last year we sat for almost five hours before we could play our match, and I felt that was difficult. I am interested to see if this will avoid some of that. I am happy to be seeing there won’t be matches being played that don’t matter toward the state championship.”
Other south metro schools in the Class 5A bracket include Valor Christian and Cherry Creek.
The Eagles won Region 3 with 3-0 victories over Broomfield and Prairie View. Cherry Creek, last season’s state runner-up, notched 3-0 wins over Pine Creek and Loveland to win Region 7.
Valor Christian drew a bye and at 5 p.m. on Nov. 8 will face the winner of the Cherry Creek-Ralston Valley match in a second-round winner’s bracket match. The Creek-Ralston Valley match is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.
Ponderosa gained a spot in the 4A state tournament bracket and will play Palmer Ridge at 8 a.m. in an opening game on Nov. 8. On Nov. 3, Ponderosa won the Region 11 qualifying tournament with 3-0 triumphs over Steamboat Springs and Weld Central.
Lutheran is the top seed in the Class 3A state tournament bracket after winning the Region 1 tournament on Nov. 3 with 3-0 wins over Montezuma-Cortez and Lake County. The Lions drew a bye and are scheduled for a 2 p.m. match on Nov. 8 against the winner of the Eaton-Machebeuf match.