(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
MONUMENT — According to the Lewis-Palmer student section, Palmer Ridge kids eat pizza with a fork. According to the Palmer Ridge kids – and a good old fashion eye test – the Bears will be giving the Rangers a run for their money on the volleyball court in the not too distant future.
Lewis-Palmer left its cross-town rivals’ gym with a 25-23, 25-21, 25-23 sweep, but it was anything but easy to come by. In fact, it may have been the toughest challenge that the Rangers (13-0 overall, 1-0 Pikes Peak Athletic Conference) have seen to date.
“Pretty close between them and Valor,” coach Wade Baxter said.
The Rangers did’t have anything to overly fret about. They’re playing like the defending Class 4A state champions (and No. 1-ranked team) that they are. But after dispatching Eaton fairly easily on Saturday, they were thrown an entirely different kind of challenge against not just a league opponent, but a big-time rival.
“We preface a lot of our season on matches like this,” junior Adelaide Feek said. “For us, it gives us a lot of momentum rolling into the rest of conference play.”
(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
It was momentum that they stole in a way toward the end of the first set. The Bears (11-2, 0-1) held a 23-20 lead thanks to a Kori Woods kill, but a service error gave the serve, and control, back to Lewis-Palmer.
The Rangers held several the rest of the way and Jadie DeLange scored the final point, sending the visiting Rowdy Rangers students into a frenzy.
In the second set, freshman Mac Russ did everything she could to get the Bears an early lead. The Rangers kept it close and didn’t let little errors send the set out of reach.
Kessandra Krutsinger came up with a timely kill to cut the Bears lead to one and then tied the set on a block.
The entire second set, Krutsinger just seemed to be the person who was always at the right place in the right time.
“I practice that way, I play that way,” she said. “It’s habit and it’s a team thing. We work together as a team.”
And it was a total team win for the Rangers. Taylor Buckley and Riley Putnicki led the attack with eight kills each. Krutsinger added seven of her own and also had five of the team’s seven blocks.
For Palmer Ridge, it was the freshmen who stood out, as they have all year. Riley Simpson had eight kills and Russ had six. Junior Summer Reflogal also got in on the fun with seven.
But the overall takeaway was not the loss, but that against what has been the measuring stick in Colorado volleyball in recent years, the Bears held their own.
“I’m completely proud of the way they played,” coach Jessen Miller said. “There were a few errors here and there. Honestly it came down to our errors more than them beating us.”
There is time to correct the errors that both teams claims to have plagued them on Thursday. If they’re both able to clean up their play a bit, a potential rematch in the state tournament would be a must-see event.
It would be monumental.