Volleyball heads to state for first time since 2015

A friendly draw gave the Manitou Springs volleyball team a big opportunity at regionals. The Mustangs had traveled to Jefferson Academy early in the season and even played a competitive match against the host Jaguars.

They lost in the regular season but had a chance at redemption in the playoffs. The Mustangs (15-10 overall, 7-5 Tri-Peaks) returned to Jefferson Academy needing to win two matches to qualify for the Class 3A state volleyball tournament. They did just that on Nov. 5, beating Fort Lupton 25-22. 2-14, 25-18 before getting a 25-23, 25-17, 12-25, 25-23 win over the Jaguars to punch their ticket to the Denver Coliseum.

The wins demonstrate just how far this team has come in recent months and how much they’ve started believing in themselves.

“I know I’ve said (confidence) a lot and that’s been my answer this whole time, but that’s what we’ve been working on,” coach Crissy Leonhardt said. “That’s what I’ve seen and that’s what I talked about when we dropped that third set.”

That let-up didn’t seem to be too much of an issue. Since the season started, the team hasn’t just evolved from their skills on the court, but from their ability to work together through the match.

“At the beginning of the year, we weren’t one team yet,” Lily Glass said. “We only had a couple of practices and we weren’t that one team that we are now. There’s been so much growth that we’ve had together, not just skill-wise. It’s been us becoming closer friends.”

That’s thanks to a strong senior class that will get to experience a state tournament atmosphere for the first time. Glass, Grace Allen, Ayla Flett, Teryn Thime and Norah Jorstad have spent several seasons together on the court and have been waiting for this opportunity since they first wore a Manitou uniform.

“I honestly didn’t even know when the last time (was) that we went to state,” Glass said. “I think it was since 2015. For me, it was just a little bit of a surprise to see how much we’ve grown since the start of the year.”

And that growth presented itself as the day played out. The Mustangs were just a set away from advancing to the state tournament last year. They took the first set from Alamosa in the regional championship match and then dropped the next two, greatly slowing their momentum. They won the fourth, but didn’t have enough fuel to finish off the match.

This year, they took the first two and despite dropping the third, never relented in their quest to get into the state tournament field.

“The difference between this year and last year was the energy,” Leonhardt said. “They just had so much more energy. They fired themselves up and they fired each other up.”

And now the attention turns to the Coliseum. It feels like a long time since the Mustangs have played on that floor. But just being there isn’t enough for this group of players. They still have every intention of playing hard and winning matches and coming away with the best finish they possibly can.

To do that, the Mustangs must work on one thing before taking the floor at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, against Alamosa (17-7).

“Preparation,” Leonhardt said. “That’s what we’re going to focus on and we’ll also have some tough conversations that are real. We just have to be prepared.”