After runner-up finish in 4A last season, Mead punches ticket back to state as No. 17 seed in regionals

MONTROSE – The No. 8 Montrose volleyball team hosted the 4A Region 8 volleyball tournament on Saturday, bringing in No. 17 Mead and No. 29 Mullen to see which team would advance to the state tournament.

At the end of three exciting matches, it was last season’s runner-up Mead that rose to the top.

“So fun playing with this team,” Mead’s Quincey Coyle said. “We really grinded and I’m proud of everyone pushing through and giving it their all.”

In the first match of the day, Montrose beat Mullen in three games, 25-18, 26-24, 25-23. The second match was a thriller, as it took Mead five sets to eventually put Mullen away, 23-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13.

In the decisive match between Montrose and Mead with a state tournament berth on the line, Mead won 25-18, 25-22, 26-24 to punch their ticket to the state championships next weekend at Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs.

“I am super proud of how these girls have grown and overcame numerous obstacles” said Mead head coach Mikayla Martinez, whose Mavericks came from behind and scored five straight to close out the final game against Montrose. “It has been a tough season and I am so happy to finally see things start to come together for them.”

Against Montrose, Mead’s Quincey Coyle had 25 kills and five blocks. Morgan Munro had 10 kills and six blocks. Taylor Tatham had 47 assists. The Mavericks had eight aces as a team.

For Montrose, Kelsey Rocco had 18 digs, Taylor Foster had 16, Madi Matoush had 16, Bre Brasier had 12, and Jada Ray and Taygan Rocco each had 11. Kelsey Rocco led the team with 13 kills and Matoush had nine.

“I was proud of the team’s effort today” Montrose head coach Shane Forrest said.” We played a great match against Mullen. Mead was an outstanding team and we had a hard time containing number ten. She has the ability to take control of the match whenever she was on the court. Think we did as much as we could to compete with them and we definitely had our chances in sets two and three.”

The Colorado girls volleyball state championship will take place from Thursday through Saturday next week.