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Pioneers season ends in round one
  
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By Ryan Boldrey
The Cripple Creek-Victor volleyball season came to an abrupt end Oct. 27 in the first round of district play at Hoehne.
The Farmers (20-3), who finished second behind Fowler (23-0) in the district, as both are now bound for regional action.
The Farmers started off their 3-1 district run with a 25-20, 25-16, 25-16 win over the Pioneers (12-7).
“We played really well when we started and it was kind of fun to see Hoehne flustered a little bit, because that doesn’t usually happen,” said coach Amy Christison.
The Pioneers held leads late in both of the first two games, leading 15-12 in the first and 13-10 in the second, before the Farmers started to take control.
Hoehne then went on a 15-3 run to go up 2-0 and never looked back again.
“When we got into that third game, my girls started playing panicky, instead of playing in control,” Christison said. “They could feel their season slipping away, and they just started to panic. It wasn’t ever for a lack of effort. They just started to play out of control. They wanted it so bad that they weren’t playing their game.”
But as Christison told the girls afterwards, she would rather see them lose because they were trying too hard than because they simply gave up, something they had been accustomed to earlier on in the season.
“Hoehne is just tough,” she said. “They are all around solid. They’ve got a super strong setter right now and have a lot of options offensively... My girls played with a lot of solid confidence, but we just don’t have the big girls. I’m lacking some height, so blocking and hitting has been a bit of a challenge this year.
“I am super proud of them though, they had huge wins at times, at Fountain Valley and at home against Peyton. I feel we played real well, but just not well enough to set ourselves up for the playoffs. Being 2-4 in league really hurt us.”
Christison said a win against either Custer County or South Park earlier in the season— when her team was shorthanded— would have set up the Pioneers much differently for the postseason as they would have avoided the play-in game and played a round-robin format with the other three remaining teams.
Although, as she pointed out, anytime you have a pair of teams like Hoehne and Fowler in your district it is going to be extremely difficult for anyone else to come out of it.
Looking toward next year, Christison will return half of her roster as both Brittany Encinias and Kelly Rodgers will be seniors and Sydni Riley and Jamie Jarnot will become juniors.
The team will be graduating Sarah Burke, Vanessa Garcia, Maddie Koenig and Haili Roundy this coming spring.
“I hope to get my hands on some of those JV girls in the spring and summer and get them going, and I’m looking for big things from Sydni Riley and Jamie Jarnot next year,” Christison said. “They were playing pretty good ball at the end of the year. They are both still pretty green, being sophomores, but I think next year they will be really strong for me. And having a good core four returning, I think that is going to help out a lot.”
Burke named Co-MVP
Senior Sarah Burke was named Co-Most Valuable Player in the 2A West Central League.
“Taking third place in league and still having one of your girls be the Co-MVP that just speaks huge for Sarah and for the work ethic she has,” Christison said. “To be recognized by the coaches in the league it’s a neat honor for her to have.”
Fellow seniors Vanessa Garcia and Haili Roundy were also both named to the all-league team, along with Burke.
The Farmers (20-3), who finished second behind Fowler (23-0) in the district, as both are now bound for regional action.
The Farmers started off their 3-1 district run with a 25-20, 25-16, 25-16 win over the Pioneers (12-7).
“We played really well when we started and it was kind of fun to see Hoehne flustered a little bit, because that doesn’t usually happen,” said coach Amy Christison.
The Pioneers held leads late in both of the first two games, leading 15-12 in the first and 13-10 in the second, before the Farmers started to take control.
Hoehne then went on a 15-3 run to go up 2-0 and never looked back again.
“When we got into that third game, my girls started playing panicky, instead of playing in control,” Christison said. “They could feel their season slipping away, and they just started to panic. It wasn’t ever for a lack of effort. They just started to play out of control. They wanted it so bad that they weren’t playing their game.”
But as Christison told the girls afterwards, she would rather see them lose because they were trying too hard than because they simply gave up, something they had been accustomed to earlier on in the season.
“Hoehne is just tough,” she said. “They are all around solid. They’ve got a super strong setter right now and have a lot of options offensively... My girls played with a lot of solid confidence, but we just don’t have the big girls. I’m lacking some height, so blocking and hitting has been a bit of a challenge this year.
“I am super proud of them though, they had huge wins at times, at Fountain Valley and at home against Peyton. I feel we played real well, but just not well enough to set ourselves up for the playoffs. Being 2-4 in league really hurt us.”
Christison said a win against either Custer County or South Park earlier in the season— when her team was shorthanded— would have set up the Pioneers much differently for the postseason as they would have avoided the play-in game and played a round-robin format with the other three remaining teams.
Although, as she pointed out, anytime you have a pair of teams like Hoehne and Fowler in your district it is going to be extremely difficult for anyone else to come out of it.
Looking toward next year, Christison will return half of her roster as both Brittany Encinias and Kelly Rodgers will be seniors and Sydni Riley and Jamie Jarnot will become juniors.
The team will be graduating Sarah Burke, Vanessa Garcia, Maddie Koenig and Haili Roundy this coming spring.
“I hope to get my hands on some of those JV girls in the spring and summer and get them going, and I’m looking for big things from Sydni Riley and Jamie Jarnot next year,” Christison said. “They were playing pretty good ball at the end of the year. They are both still pretty green, being sophomores, but I think next year they will be really strong for me. And having a good core four returning, I think that is going to help out a lot.”
Burke named Co-MVP
Senior Sarah Burke was named Co-Most Valuable Player in the 2A West Central League.
“Taking third place in league and still having one of your girls be the Co-MVP that just speaks huge for Sarah and for the work ethic she has,” Christison said. “To be recognized by the coaches in the league it’s a neat honor for her to have.”
Fellow seniors Vanessa Garcia and Haili Roundy were also both named to the all-league team, along with Burke.
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