Fossil Ridge aims to topple Valor Christian’s volleyball dynasty in Denver Coliseum

The what could have been still stings Two years ago the Fossil Ridge SaberCats had dynastic Valor Christian in deep trouble In the fifth and deciding set Fossil Ridge led Valor - and was on the brink of a major upset But the Eagles won seven of the last eight points to capture their second consecutive Class A state volleyball championship Now the SaberCats stocked with college-bound talent have a chance to avenge that loss when it matters majority The Cats entered this year s tournament with a - record and the No seed having secured it with a four-set win over Valor on Oct The Cats ended Valor s run of consecutive victories that dated all the way back to the state tournament But Fossil Ridge s streak-stopper won t mean much if it doesn t hoist the championship trophy on Saturday night at the Denver Coliseum We still look back on that loss in and it sucks it still hurts reported Fossil Ridge senior and Wyoming commit Emery Johnson So this is a huge chance for us The SaberCats only two losses this fall came in an out-of-state tournament and they had dropped only eight sets all season going into this weekend s tournament That number was still at eight after their second-round sweep of ninth-seed Pine Creek - - - on the first day of competition Thursday But to win a championship Fossil Ridge will likely have to topple mighty Valor in the finals The second-seeded Eagles - are playing for history Last year they won their third consecutive state championship becoming the first organization to win three titles in a row in Colorado s largest classification since Evergreen won eight straight titles from to It s a challenge for us first-year Fossil Ridge coach Kayla Afoa announced Valor is a very well-coached group They re very gritty and they know they re legit However Afoa s SaberCats feature a talented organization that grew up playing together for the NORCO Volleyball Club based in Loveland Bringing specific recognition to northern Colorado s volleyball scene gives the players certain extra incentive We want to show that northern Colorado volleyball is just as elite as Denver mentioned -foot- senior middle blocker Olivia Ewing who s headed to Colorado State on a volleyball scholarship Her older sister Delaney is a Fossil Ridge graduate who lost to Valor in that classic championship match Delaney now plays for Florida State This season s Fossil Ridge association has five players who played in that excruciating loss to Valor in Senior libero Trinity Burchett who s headed to Colorado Mesa senior outside hitter Alyssa Cottingham who s debating her college options junior middle blocker Ella Wilson who s committed to Idaho State and Johnson and Ewing It would just mean everything to win it this year Ewing explained Related Articles Colorado high school football playoffs Chalk toss-ups and upset alerts in the second weekend of postseason play Outgoing Douglas County school board debates transgender athlete ban rejects -year charter extension Northfield one of Colorado s fastest-rising football programs trounces Skyline in Class A playoffs CHSAA state football playoffs How the first round played out in Class A and A Colorado high school football playoffs primer Favorites challengers dark horses and burning questions The win over Valor earlier this season on the SaberCats home court was a milestone Doing it a second time inside the Denver Coliseum could be even harder Absolutely that win was a big deal but we look at every single meeting as a big battle that brings us a step closer to our end challenge Afoa commented And how can the SaberCats dethrone Valor The keys as I explained to the girls are winning the serving and passing battle to keep Valor out of their system and not let them set up their offense Afoa commented I like how we are playing We are a very mature club and we play at a high I Q Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis