Arterburn, Sanders shine in volleyball All-State Games

By Alan Pearce, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published November 18, 2007 at 10:36 p.m.

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THORNTON – The jump serves of Amanda Arterburn and Evan Sanders had their teammates jumping for joy at the All-State Games Sunday.

Five matches were played at Horizon High School, in the event sponsored by the Colorado Coaches of Girls Sports. Arterburn was a standout in the Class 5A match while Sanders starred in the 4A.

Arterburn, a 5-foot-8 outside hitter from Smoky Hill, blasted three aces as her Red team defeated the Blue 25-21, 25-21, 25-23. Arterburn used an extremely high toss that almost seemed to get away from her on a couple of occasions, but she still connected every time and defeated some talented passers on the Blue squad.

A University of Northern Colorado recruit, Arterburn didn’t nail down many kills, but her passing was very good and that jump serve even better.

“I was feeling it (Sunday),” Arterburn said. “I was going to be weepy, but this is an amazing thing. Courtney (Karst), Bri (Smith) and Kelsie (Edwards) and I are really close and we were so happy when we got to be on the same team. Kelsie is my best friend and being able to play with her is really something special.”

Karst, the Eaglecrest middle blocker who is headed for the University of Arizona, made it more special by leading all players with 11 kills.

“We had a lot of fun (Saturday) at practice,” Karst said. “We emphasized having fun, but playing hard, because we wanted to go out winners.”

A four-year starter for the Buffaloes, Arterburn was well acquainted with most of her teammates, but said she also relished meeting others such as Alex McHenry of Denver East and Durango teammates Jazmin Stoner and Jessica Wilson.

Stoner, an outside hitter, piled up eight kills and continued the Demons tradition of superb outside hitters. Chelsea Flaming starred at that position last season and Stoner certainly kept the Durango reputation intact.

She even got a back row kill, something hard to do against the active Blue defense. The Blues did have the defensive highlight of the day, with Pomona libero Jazzy Sapp nearly running out of the gym to chase down a deflected dig. Wilson made one memorable trip through the front row, blasting four kills in those three rotations.

The combination of two Durango stars was, at times, too much for the Blues to handle.

“I think we have a steady flow of talent (through the school),” Stoner said. “I think a lot of people have underestimated us.”

In Class 4A, Sanders started off the match with a kill and took over with three consecutive aces when she moved to the back row. The Colorado State recruit also uses a high toss and her jump serve lands like a boulder.

The 4A and 2A matches were played in Horizon’s auxiliary gym, but Sanders liked the smaller surroundings.

“This feels like a normal high school gym,” Sanders said. “It was very exciting playing with all the talented girls on these teams. It’s crazy that (high school ball) is over, but we’re moving on. All the hard work was worth it.”

Sanders, a 6-foot setter/outside hitter, also led the Blues with 10 kills and two blocks. Lacey Turner of Mountain View also was very effective with six kills and no hitting errors.

The Blue squad needed that production, as Emily Greenhalgh of Conifer, a Metro State College recruit, pounded down 13 kills and Devon Abbott of Battle Mountain added six.

At one point late in the match, Sanders was on the court with Katie Bussey of Alamosa and Megan Roark of state champion Mountain View. All three are setters who also proved themselves hitting on Sunday.

“It was nice because everybody on our team could do everything,” Sanders said.

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