(Andre Lyseight/CHSAANow.com)
AURORA — It was hard-fought, and why wouldn’t it be between two top-five volleyball teams in Class 5A?
Cherokee Trail, ranked No. 3 in Class 5A, beat No. 5 Cherry Creek 3-1 (25-12, 22-25, 27-25, 25-19) on Thursday night.
“I think the team played absolutely spectacular. We come in and were sort of the walking wounded around here and it’s been a tough season to start off with,” said Cherokee Trail coach Terry Miller. “Their resilience is outstanding.
“They hate losing more than they like winning. It was one of those things were they refused to let balls down. That’s a testament to the heart of the team.”
The Cougars got off to a spectacular start against No. 5 Bruins.
Cherokee Trail jumped out the gate with a huge 9-0 run against Cherry Creek that looked flustered early. Cherokee Trail was able to keep the ball alive and capitalize on crucial plays with the help from senior captain Shannon Web, and outside hitter, to bring the lead at one point to 20-9 before finishing the set 25-12.
“I love games like that,” Web said. “It’s awesome to know every point and touch matters. I think our team is really great under pressure. I was really confident we were going to pull it out and we did.”
Cherry Creek was able to pull out a win second set. This time, the Bruins were able to capitalize on crucial plays showing the team’s determination and effort that was missing from the previous set. The Bruins went on multiple runs, eventually giving them 22-20 lead, and forcing Cherokee Trail to call a timeout.
Still, Cherry Creek finished strong to take the second set 25-22.
The most important and exciting set of the game was the third set, including great hustle plays on both sides that were sparked by Bruins setter Daisy Shultz and Cougars libero Mehana Fonseca.
Neither team was able to get an edge on the other throughout the match, trading momentum each play. They were tied nine times in the set, and the winner came down to who could make the most plays. Tied at 25, Cherokee Trail was able to eek out a 27-25 win.
“We fought really hard. Harder than I’ve ever seen our team fight,” said Cherry Creek setter Daisy Shultz. “Everyone just worked the hardiest they could to try and pull out a win.”
After a hard-fought third set, Cherokee Trail was able to jump to a 6-0 run in the fourth and grab a 9-3 lead. Cherry Creek called a timeout, and the Bruins were able to gain some composure and go on a few runs to make it 21-16.
However, similar to the first set, the Cherokee Trail lead was too much, and the Cougars won the final set of the match 25-19.
Cherry Creek coach Sally Moos believes that her team’s passing wasn’t effective enough against a good defensive team.
“We didn’t pass well at all,” she said. “They are an outstanding defensive team, served us off the court a little bit because we didn’t pass well. We have to recoup. This one is over with and now we go on to the next one.”