Impressive streak comes to an end for Lewis-Palmer volleyball
In the fall of 2011, Nikki Bloemen was in the process of leading the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs volleyball team in kills. As a junior.
It was that same fall that Rampart, Bloemen’s alma mater, was on its way to sweeping Lewis-Palmer at home.
Nowadays that kind of feat is almost unfathomable. And for good reason. That Sept. 22, 2011 win over the Rangers would be the last time an opponent would sweep L-P at home in a best of five match until Sept. 26, 2019.
When it happened on Thursday, Bloemen was no longer getting kills for UCCS; she was coaching the Rams in that win.
While the sweep was certainly impressive, so is what Lewis-Palmer has accomplished since the last time it happened.
The Rangers went undefeated in three full seasons (2014, 2016, 2017) and they won five Class 4A state championships (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018).
In the middle of all that, there was a stretch of nearly six calendar years where they didn’t drop a match at home. The Rangers got beat by Doherty on Sept. 20, 2012 and didn’t see another home loss until Chaparral beat them 3-1 on Sept. 4, 2018.
They did host a tournament in 2012 where Valley beat the Rangers 2-0 on Sept. 8 marking the last official sweep at home of any kind for L-P.
Rampart is currently ranked No. 1 in the 5A volleyball rankings and L-P sits at No. 4 in 4A.
