Grandview volleyball retains top seed

Alan Pearce, Rocky Mountain News

Sunday, November 4, 2007

AURORA – While piling up 24 consecutive wins this season, the Grandview volleyball team gained a No. 1 ranking, loads of confidence and attention and the top seed for this weekends Class 5A regional round.



On Saturday, the Wolves got something else – they got pushed.



A 23-25, 25-27, 25-10, 25-17, 15-12 win over the Rebels meant Grandview ended up winning the Region A tournament it hosted. Both Grandview (26-0) and Columbine qualified for the state tournament this Friday and Saturday at the Denver Coliseum and the Wolves will retain their top seed.



In other regions, Lewis-Palmer defeated Mountain Vista for the Region B title, while Eaglecrest beat Pine Creek in Region C and Cherry Creek upset Highlands Ranch in D. All those teams listed qualify for state.



Back at Grandview, Wolves star player Lauren Van Orden, was ill Saturday and Grandview coach Patty Childress said she wasn’t her usual overpowering self on the attack. Van Orden, however, continued to wreck teams with her jump serve and defense.



Middle blocker Erica Denney filled the gap, though, by racking up 38 kills in three matches (averaging 3.45 kills per game). A 6-3 sophomore Denney belted 19 kills against Columbine and her eyes widened when hearing that total.



"That’s the most I’ve ever had," she said. "Lately, we’ve been in kind of a rut, so I think we kind of got clear of that."



Grandview’s outside hitters, Brianna Gradishar and Sarah Van Goethem, also were hitting their peaks.



"We don’t hesitate at all to swing because we know we have great coverage behind us," Gradishar said, referring to how frequently libero McCall Paynter, Van Orden and others are able to dig up hits deflected back off the block.



Gradishar welcomed how Columbine (22-4) backed the Wolves into a corner, registering close wins in the first two games of their match. Grandview has been taken to four games several times this season, but the Columbine battle marked its first five-gamer.



"Those games are always the best, going back and forth," Gradishar said.

The 5-10 outside hitter did her best to get the Wolves the win in the first game, knocking down five kills, but Ellen Miks matched that total for Columbine.

The second game was even tighter, going past regulation. Gradishar continued to hit well, adding four more kills to her total of 14, but Columbine middle blocker Meagan O’Leary was even more of a threat.



A 6-1 senior, O’Leary put away six kills, mostly running the slide play, and came up with two blocks in the second game. Her counterpart, Rebels junior Randee Hayes, added five kills and one block.



Grandview played the part of a sleeping giant awakened in Game 3. The Wolves demolished the Rebels with all parts of their attack working well. Gradishar and Sarah Van Goethem each collected three kills, while Denney also came up big with two.



For the match, Van Goethem had 11 kills, while San Diego State recruit Van Orden still had 12 kills, three blocks and five aces, which shows how productive she is when healthy.



Denney said the Wolves weren’t as businesslike as usual on Saturday.



"Instead of coming out and doing what we had to do, we just came out to have fun and dominate," Denney said.



For Columbine, merely qualifying for state is satisfying, although the Rebels have had to swallow tough five-game decisions for the past two weeks. Columbine went the distance but lost to Eaglecrest for the district title a week before regionals.

However, it appears as if the Rebels have qualified for state only once before, going 2-1 at the tournament, although the year is not yet known. Columbine coach Kathy Miks said the Rebels haven’t made it to state in at least the last 10 years.



The Rebels also distinguished themselves by coming back to defeat Fairview 25-11, 25-17, 25-21 in the match immediately following the heartbreaker against Grandview. Since both Fairview and Columbine had defeated Heritage, that was the clincher to make it to state.



"They wanted it," Miks said. "It came from within. It’s a special group of girls and they’ve been aiming for (a state berth) all season. I think maybe we raised our reputation with this."



Columbine outside hitter Breanna Williams, in tears after the Grandview loss, quickly recovered to prepare for Fairview and then was busy planning a team dinner Saturday night after beating the Knights.



"I hate losing, but to get to state was the main thing," Williams said. "It was easy to keep focused mentally in (the Grandview) match, but it’s hard to keep your body going. You have to keep moving, jumping and swinging."

Columbine – Meagan O’Leary (12 kills, 3 hitting errors, 2 blocks, 1 service error, 1 ace), Ashley Benjamin (1K, 3HE, 2B), Ellen Miks (7K, 4HE, 2B, 3SE), Alicia Dotson (7K, 4HE, 2B, 3SE), Nouara Sadaoui (1K, 1HE), Randee Hayes (8K, 2B, 3SE, 1A), Breanna Williams (11K, 11HE, 1SE, 1A), Megan Koop (3K).

Grandview – McCall Paynter (4SE, 3A), Brianna Gradishar (14K, 1HE, 1B, 1SE), Sarah Van Goethem (11K, 4HE, 1B, 1SE, 1A), Morgan Gradishar (4K, 4HE), Jill Anderson (5K, 6HE, 2B), Erica Denney (19K, 1HE, 1SE), Theresa Read (1SE), Lauren Van Orden (12K, 5HE, 3B, 5A).

Region A volleyball tournament

at Grandview HS

Columbine def. Heritage 23-25, 25-12, 29-27, 25-22.

Grandview def. Fairview 25-10, 25-10, 25-13.

Fairview def. Heritage 25-20, 25-15, 16-25, 24-26, 16-14.

Grandview def. Columbine 23-25, 25-27, 25-10, 25-17, 15-12.

Columbine def. Fairview 25-11, 25-17, 25-21.

Grandview def. Heritage 25-14, 25-17, 25-16.

State qualifiers: 1, Grandview. 2, Columbine.