3A Girls Volleyball: The Village Caps First Season with State Championship

DENVER – In matchup of a team looking to add to Colorado’s largest legacy of championships against another seeking to add its first, the new school came out on top Saturday night.

The Village, a Colorado Springs school which fielded a program for the first time this season after its players had to play at other schools in previous years, pulled off an incredible rally at the Denver Coliseum in a 20-25, 21-25, 32-30, 25-17, 17-15 outlasting of a Platte Valley program seeking to add to its Colorado leading all-time total of 15 state championships.

In the last of the five state championship matches to finish, coach Shannon Baker’s Mountaineers came through with the final two points for an epic first victory.

“That was one of the most amazing matches I’ve ever coached from a competitive standpoint, it was amazing,” Baker said. “We fought back one point at a time. … This team did a great job of coming together and building relationships because they’d never played before.”

Village players had been dispersed to five or six different programs since the school did not have a team, but it finally came to fruition.

The Mountaineers took advantage of the opportunity, as they finished with a 25-3 record and a state crown.

“Me and this team worked so hard for this and I think it went five sets because we just wanted to play more with each other,” middle blocker Erika Sayer said. “We love each other so much and I’m so proud of everybody.”

The Village had to absolutely work to win its first state championship, as Platte Valley came roaring out of the gates in its quest for its first state title since 2022.

Led by determined senior Karsyn Fetzer, the Broncos turned the tables on a team that it lost to in three sets earlier in the tournament by winning the first two sets.

Fetzer’s well-placed shot ended the first set in Platte Valley’s favor, while senior Hayden Hanes had the clinching point in the second set.

The Broncos rallied from a deficit as large as eight in the third set and three times had championship point, only to be denied.

Most of the time, it was Sayer — a 6-foot-2 middle who played at Lewis-Palmer last season — and Edwards who came up big in the key points. Sayer’s tip followed by a kill from senior Olivia Plentl sealed an epic 32-30 victory.

The Mountaineers staved off challenges from Platte Valley in each of the final two sets, which was filled with exceptional defense on both sides of the net.

The margin of difference was so small that a key point late in the fifth set came when a tip by The Village’s Dylan Teague danced on the top of the net before rolling onto the Broncos’ side for a point. A wide attack on the next point sealed the championship victory.

“It is so awesome,” Edwards said. “We pushed for two years to even have a team, and we were able to have a team and prove we were supposed to be here. It’s such an honor to be able to support the school that we know and love. It is such a big accomplishment, not just for us, for the future of our school.”