COLORADO SPRINGS – One down, two to go. The Montezuma-Cortez volleyball team continued its state title-bound mission in the quarterfinal round of the 3A State Tournament, as they downed Prospect Ridge Academy, 3-1, to move on to the Final Four.
It didn’t come easy for the second-seeded Panthers. Playing on the Broadmoor World Arena floor under the spotlight of the sport’s biggest stage, a senior-led Panthers squad showed some early nerves, as the Miners (14-2, 9-1 3A Metro) jumped out to an early lead.
For only the third time all season, head coach Joye McHenry’s Panthers found themselves in a first set hole, as Prospect Ridge closed out the set, 25-14.
Under such circumstances, the Panthers could have lost the composure that had led them to a 3A IML title. Instead, M-CHS (14-0, 8-0 3A IML) galvanized under the pressure and produced some of their best volleyball of the season.
The pendulum began to swing in the second set, where senior Myka Glover and junior Avery Wright dominated the front line. Much like they had all season, the duo kept their opponents on the defensive, as the Panthers clawed their way back into the match.
Key points down the stretch of a back-and-forth set went the way of the orange-and-black, and the Panthers edged Prospect Ridge, 25-23, to even up the match at a set apiece.
From there, the Panthers began to sense their dominance. Steady play from seniors Amber Wood, Devon McHenry, and Kylie Lake helped steer the Panthers into firm control of the match, as M-CHS took the third set, 25-16.
With momentum squarely on their side, McHenry’s squad did what they have done so well this season – close teams out. M-CHS only endured one five-setter en route to their league title and perfect regular season, and weren’t about to let the No. 7 seed Miners back into the match.
Senior Leigha Comisky, along with Wood, helped to govern the back line to stymie the Miner rallies, as the Panthers put together some big runs in the deciding fourth set. As the final point sealed a 25-20 fourth set clincher, the Panthers celebrated their berth in the Final Four.
M-CHS gets set to take on Sterling on Thursday, May 13, at 2 p.m. in the state semifinal, with a spot in the state championship match on the line. The No. 3 seeded Tigers (14-2, 8-2 3A Patriot) picked up a quarterfinal victory, 3-1, over Lutheran.
The other semifinal will pit top-seeded Eaton against No. 5 seed University, with the winners moving on to the title match, which will be competed later that evening at 8 p.m.
"I think it's been 20 years and they took third in the state back then when we were in 4A at the time," Joye McHenry told reporter Brad Cochi after the match. "We haven't been since we've been 3A for the past six years, so it's exciting. This team has played together forever. We have a lot of seniors, so we have a lot of experience. A lot of them have played club and all of them have had some adversity and some struggles that they've had to kind of pull through, so they're just a really tight-knit group."
