Just when it looks like they are outside, they get back in.
Now that the Yuma High School volleyball Indians are ready, they’ll be competing in the ninth straight Class 2A tournament next week at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs.
“What a roller coaster ride in a season and really sometimes in every game,” said coach Jenny Noble. “Something just clicked in set three and we drove this momentum to the end. I can’t guess my girls! But I love every minute of it. “
Only a few weeks ago, the season of the tribe seemed to be over at the end of the shortened, newly planned season C, which ended 8-3 after a home defeat against Merino. However, they bounced back to win that triangle’s nightcap against Akron and ended the regular season with impressive wins over the next week against Brush and Limon.
The three-game winning streak was just enough for the Indians to sneak into 2A’s 24-team playoff field as the 22nd seed. That sent them to an undefeated third-placed Meeker for the region last Saturday. The other Region 3 team, Union Colony Prep of Greeley, was one of five teams in all classifications to pull out of the region due to COVID issues – having had none for all of Season C.
That meant just one game at Meeker, and the winner moved up.
It seemed like Meeker was holding the serve, so to speak, as the hometown cowboys won the first two sets. Again it seemed to be over for the tribe.
Ema Richardson got the ball over the net in last Saturday’s regional win at Meeker. (Pioneer photo)
However, just like in 2012, when the tribe recovered from a 2-0 deficit at Resurrection Christian to start the current series of state tournaments, the Season C 2021 tribe also held a memorable rally with three straight wins – the last two in nail – biting, hand-shaking fashion – to go back to the state, 17-25, 16-25, 25-10, 26-24, and 15-13.
Noble said she brings it to the table with a five-set match her eldest daughter Jess played at Otis against Fleming and the five-set thriller against Rez that also included her younger daughter Mallory.
“In each of the three games, something special happened on the floor when you thought the chips were down and victory was taken despite all the odds,” she said. “It is amazing what the mind can do to help a team overcome situations like this. Every sense is sharpened and just so powerful. “
The Indians now have all week and Monday and Tuesday to train in front of the state – which was moved from this weekend to Wednesday and Thursday, May 12-13, when the CHSAA decided to take him out of a club volleyball The venue is located near the Budweiser Relocate Center in Loveland, to a real arena in Colorado Springs where fans can actually sit in real grandstands and record all five classifications at once, just as they normally do at the Denver Coliseum. (However, each team only has 125 fans and can only be in the arena for their team’s game.)
“We’ll enjoy the break,” said Noble. “Gives us a chance to catch our breath and improve some areas of our game that hurt us in the first game against Wiggins. The girls are super excited and it’s fun to look forward to another trip to the big tournament. “
Fittingly, Yuma opens the state against Top-Seed and LPAA colleague Wiggins. This is the same team that the tribe opened Season C against and lost in straight sets at The Pit.
“Team chemistry is better and we just communicate a little more,” said Noble. “We take every game personally and I think these intangibles have helped us achieve some of these victories lately. I’m looking forward to playing Wiggins in the first round – it will be a good one. “
State will be a straight eight team, just as it was in 1990 when YHS won its first volleyball state championship. (The program has won two more 2A titles and three runner-ups since 2015 and 2018.) The winners are advancing, the losers are out. No consolation bracket.
Jayci Mekelburg went down in Meeker last Saturday for a serve. (Pioneer photo) The quarterfinals will be played on Wednesday May 12th with Yuma-Wiggins at 11am. The semi-finals and the final will be played on Thursday May 13th. The Yuma Wiggins winner will play against the Christian Fowler Vail winner in the semifinals “Breakfast at the Broadmoor” at 8:00 am. The championship games in all classifications are scheduled for 5 p.m.
The only way for the tribe (7-8) to end the season with a winning record is to win the championship.
“Our record is definitely a bit shaky, but with each of the last games we’ve made it more respectable,” said Noble. “8-8 is our next target, and we will go one at a time to see what we can do.”
Fowler is the fourth seed and Vail Christian is the fifth.
LPAA teams make up half of the 2A field (plus Merino is the third seed in the 1A tournament) while Sedgwick County is the third seed, playing Dayspring Christian with the sixth seed in the quarterfinals, and Holyoke with the seventh seed in Denver Christian.
“The new seeding format has given good teams in difficult leagues a better chance of making it by competing against and battling other teams across the state – rather than being transferred to the same region every year and a top Team to go home because they are facing a difficult team from their league for the fourth time this season, ”said Noble. “I think it’s great.”
Of YHS Volleyball’s nine-year state run, this is probably the most surprising. 2012 was a breakthrough but this team had been performing well all season and obviously talented. The program has had little success lately. Yuma’s Season C team obviously had talent, they just struggled to get all the pieces together and there wasn’t much time to do it in a seven week season.
Fortunately, everything came together just in time.
“I honestly don’t know what happened to get our bums going,” said Noble. “Maybe we suddenly felt a sense of urgency and decided it was time to deal with it.”
The Indians made the 363-mile trip to Meeker late last week and spent the Friday night off I-70 in Rifle before making the final 40-mile drive north on winding Highway 13.
At first it seemed like they had never checked out of the Comfort Inn.
Meeker went 12-0 to the region and was looking for his first national title after several recent trips to the big show. It featured the super sophomore Ella Luce, a power hitter who also has an all-round game.
Yuma stayed tough early in the first set, just 7-8 behind, but Meeker took a four-point lead and the Tribe never got closer than three the rest of the way in the 17:25 loss. The Indians violated their own cause with several minor flaws.
They bounced back to play a competitive second set that led 16-15. Then they completely collapsed when the Cowboys scored 10 direct points, the last on a service ace, to plunge Yuma into a 2-0 hole.
While the Meeker players danced to the great music that was played between sets, Noble gave a hard, rousing speech amid the crowd of Indians.
Before leaving, the Indians played a dominant third set.
They took a 6-1 lead, pushed it to 10-3 and then 15-6. A 4-0 increase capped by Elle Roth’s service ace gave Yuma a 19-9 lead. It was 19-10 when Yuma scored the final six points for the win.
But not before a drama.
Luce was injured when he rushed to the stands to reach Yuma’s 23rd point. The gym went quiet when she was taken care of. However, she was able to leave the seat, freezing her back between sets, and was back on the ground for the fourth set.
It was a battle all the way. The tribe followed 7-10 but scored six just behind Meidi Reyes’ serve. Yuma continued to hold the lead, but Meeker also showed a lot of heart, rallying off deficits from 22-17 and 24-21 to tie it at 24. However, the Indians didn’t wither under the pressure either, scoring the 25th point and then forcing a crucial fifth set for Ema Richardson’s killing for the victory point.
Meeker stopped dancing between sets.
Yuma took the lead 8-4 in the fifth set, but two consecutive booms from Luce helped Meeker take it 9-8. Yuma led 10-8 as the Cowboys scored four of the next five points for a 12-11 lead.
Yuma bounced back to a 14-12 lead, but Meeker won a long rally when the ball barely slid over the net and scored 14-13.
However, a good serve and serve resulted in Richardson’s kill being misplayed by the Cowboys, and the Yuma players, the bench – including the coaches – and the crowd erupted in joyous celebration with the 15:13 win.
Back to status.
The Yuma Bank and the crowd break out after a critical point towards the end of the fifth set at Meeker last Saturday. (Pioneer photo)
“It was so great,” said Noble. “I’m still smiling about it. Really, the other coaches and I were incredulous for a while. I know a lot of people who turned off the radio after the second set. And I can’t say I blame them. But wow, just wow! “
Meekers Luce ended up with an impressive 37 kills, but their efforts were thwarted by Yuma’s more even attack as the Indians had 55 kills compared to the Cowboys’ 48.
Roth had 22 kills, Richardson and Caddis Robinson 16 each and Mia Dischner three. Lea Richardson had 46 hiring assistants and Reyes had three. Jayci Mekelburg, Taylor Law, Robinson and Roth took turns to launch the offensive from the backline and led the team on serve and dig. L. Richardson was also strong at digging. A defensive match on the net eventually forced Luce to make a number of sideline attempts. E. Richardson and Robinson were each in three blocks and Dischner in two. Roth was 21-21 and served with two aces, L. Richardson 18-20 with two aces, Dischner 18-20 with one ace, Reyes 14-14 with one ace, Robinson 11-13 and E. Richardson 10-11.
“While that was great, I’m going to ask just a little more from each player next week,” said Noble. “I think we can do some damage.”
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