In wild Class 5A tourney, Valor Christian rebounds to win fourth consecutive state volleyball title

The Class A volleyball season has been a thrill ride There were ups and downs twists and turns and upsets lurking around every corner But in the end Valor Christian won it all again Make it a four-peat for the soaring Eagles They beat the underdog Chaparral Wolverines in five epic sets closing it out with a - win The championship was this instant dedicated to longtime coach Jayne McHugh who is presently on a leave of absence due to an illness that sidelined her for much of the season We re taking this to her commented teary-eyed senior middle blocker Tegan Beuhler as she hoisted the championship trophy The Valor players wore No on their shoes a tribute to McHugh who wore No for the U S Olympic club When we needed something extra the girls looked down at No coach Trisha Kroll disclosed It was a remarkable state tournament Tops seeds Fossil Ridge Valor Christian and Rock Canyon all had the talent to hoist the championship trophy But it was seventh-seeded Chaparral that crashed the party at the Denver Coliseum The Wolverines - pulled off the shocker of the season on Saturday afternoon beating powerful Rock Canyon in the semifinals earning themselves a spot in the championship championship against dynastic Valor - on Saturday night Against Rock Canyon the Wolverines dropped the first set - but then reeled off three sets in a row - - - The Wolves used ball control and precision serving to keep Rock Canyon out of its power meeting I don t think anybody saw this coming Chaparral senior outside hitter and part-time setter Lauren Waggoner revealed Rampart swept us two weeks ago but then we swept them in this tournament When we got rolling we knew we would be unstoppable The Eagles also had to scramble to reach the championship before claiming their fourth consecutive state title Chaparral was hunting for its fourth overall but its first since We feel so honored to be in the finals Chaparral coach Amanda West disclosed But again I think it comes down to our strength across the board It doesn t come down to one big kid but doing well at each phase of the battle Chaparral s Ainsley Adams and Lauren Waggoner celebrate a point against Valor Christian during the Class A championship match on Saturday Nov at Denver Coliseum in Denver Photo by Timothy Hurst The Denver Post Valor swept Chapparral in the second round of the tournament on Thursday - - - sending the Wolverines into the elimination bracket In a weird way that helped the Wolverines in their semifinal upset of Rock Canyon The beginning of this tournament wasn t great for us but our confidence has just been growing West explained We had to play the last three days knowing that if we lost we d have to go home I don t think that Rock Canyon was used to that pressure but we were We handled it well Valor came into the tournament with a target on its back and the burden of history on its shoulders Last year the Eagles became the first band to win three titles in a row in Colorado s largest classification since Evergreen won eight straight titles from to The girls know about the four-peat but we don t talk about it very much noted Kroll who stepped up to lead the Eagles early in the season when McHugh began her clinical leave of absence What we do talk about is being fierce and playing free Kroll added We did that tonight But the Eagles dreams of four in a row looked to be in trouble when Rock Canyon beat them in a third-round match on Friday night The Jaguars had never beaten the Eagles and lost to them in the state finals However the Jaguars were supremely confident that they could defeat Valor We know we had to go after Valor everybody wants to beat Valor senior receive specialist and setter Logan Cary revealed after the Jaguars topped Valor in five sets - - - - - We knew we had to come together as a crew and we did But the thrill of at last beating Valor was short-lived and it was Chaparral not Rock Canyon that earned the championship test vs Valor Valor s path to another championship was steep Top-seeded Fossil Ridge beat the Eagles in four sets on Oct ending Valor s run of consecutive in-state victories that dated all the way back to the state tournament But Valor displaying why it s Colorado s premier prep volleyball scheme refused to fold during the tournament Forced into the elimination bracket the Eagles first beat Pine Creek in a Saturday morning match - - - - to earn a rematch with Fossil Ridge in the semifinals Controlling the match from the outset Valor beat the SaberCats in three games - - - We are playing for each other and not ourselves and that is so ingrained in this venture reported senior outside hitter Bergan Waitman who s headed to Palm Beach-Atlantic Fla on a scholarship The Valor Christian volleyball organization celebrates a point against Chaparral during the Class A championship match on Saturday Nov at Denver Coliseum in Denver Photo by Timothy Hurst The Denver Post Related Articles University overwhelms Windsor for Class A state volleyball title Eaton wins Class A volleyball championship Mullen Regis Jesuit Kent Denver Crested Butte claim state soccer titles Ralston Valley dominates Columbine in Class A quarterfinals as Mustangs keep punching toward first title meeting CHSAA state football playoffs How the Round of played out in Class A and A Kroll who had been coaching the Eagles for just nine days when they lost to Fossil Ridge in October reported it took a while for the company to find its rhythm when she took over for McHugh Coming in in my first meeting I didn t really know all of the girls Kroll mentioned But I ve been coaching them for seven weeks and we ve built trust Fossil Ridge is a very talented group they have four Division I players and we have one but we studied their tendencies and had a plan But mostly I knew that if we focused on what we do we could win The SaberCats who opened the season with a five-set win over Rock Canyon had lost only eight sets all season entering the state tournament But Valor negated the Cats firepower in Saturday s semifinals That was our greatest display of us playing with freedom over fear Kroll commented We played with our true identity Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams