PARKER — Cheyenne Mountain shook off some early jitters and then stormed back to beat Chaparral in a marquee volleyball match to open the season on Thursday.
The Indians, ranked No. 1 in Class 4A’s preseason poll, rallied from down 2-0 to be the 5A No. 6 Wolverines 19-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-18, and 15-9.
“The way they responded, I was so proud,” Cheyenne Mountain coach David Barkley said after the match. “We’ve got a lot work on. We’ve got some inexperience in certain places. We know that this is going to be a work in progress all year. But to show the heart that they did there — holy cow.
“I can’t say enough about Chaparral,” Barklet added. “They are so good. We are very fortunate to come out of here with a win.”
Chaparral (0-1) stormed out early in the first set, and then raced to an 23-15 lead in the second. That’s when things seemed to change for Cheyenne Mountain (1-0). The reigning 4A champs went on an 8-1 run to cut the lead to 24-23 before Chaparral put the Indians away to take the 2-0 lead in sets.
Chaparral jumped out again in the third set, with leads of 10-5 and 15-10, but Cheyenne Mountain slowly chipped away and eventually tied the set at 18-18. Then, in a flash, the Indians then captured the third game 25-21.
“They just got comfortable,” Barkley said. “You know, first-match jitters. That might have been some of it. Once they got the confidence, that helped.”
The fourth set was also back-and-forth before Cheyenne Mountain closed with the final eight points to win 25-18.
By the time the fifth set began, Cheyenne Mountain was rolling. It jumped out to a 9-3 lead, and then traded points the rest of the way to win 15-9.
“We started out a little shaky,” said Cheyenne Mountain senior Ellie Gubser. “It was our first game of the season. We have a lot of new people on our team, and we’re trying to get used to playing with each other. But I think we worked out a lot of kinks this game.”
More photos. (Renee Bourcier/CHSAANow.com)
Gubser finished with 16 kills, including three in the final set.
“She’s our leader,” Barkley said. “She’s a competitor. She loves to play. She doesn’t care who is on the other side.”
Cheyenne Mountain seemed to change the match with its service game, led by senior Maddi Brown. Brown had five aces in the match, including a crucial one in the third set which gave her team a 23-20 lead.
“In the end, that was the difference,” Barkley said. “We served well.”
Grace Wilder and Casey Ahrendsen each added 12 kills for Cheyenne Mountain.
Chaparral, a senior-heavy team which went to the state tournament last season, was led by Grace Miles and her 16 kills. Makenna Davis added 15, and Jasmine Schmidt had 12 to go along with two aces and four blocks.
Ava Larkin had 46 assists for the Wolverines.
The match, an annual season-opening meeting since 2012, served as a measuring stick for both programs. And if Thursday was any indication, both should be playing into November.
“This tells us where we are,” Barkley said.
More photos. (Renee Bourcier/CHSAANow.com)