The Ignacio High School volleyball team started the 2A state tournament against the team that won it all last spring: Wiggins.
Playing against No. 6 seed Wiggins Tigers in the first round at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs on Thursday, No. 11 Ignacio came up short.
In the first game, Wiggins senior Racheal White got the match started with an ace, and the Tigers raced out to an early 8-2 lead.
Slowly but steadily, the Volleycats responded and clawed back into the fight, rallying to as close as 18-17 and 19-18 via a kill by junior Grace Gonzales. WHS' Taelynn Epple, a 5-foot-10-inch sophomore, answered with a kill and fellow 5-foot-10 sophomore Tyleigh Fehseke downed another. Lexi McCullough, a 5-foot-10 junior, then blocked IHS junior Harmony Reynolds, and Wiggins would sew up a 25-19 win after an Ignacio serve went into the net followed by a double-contact infraction.
In game two, an Ignacio foot fault on the first serve gave Wiggins the first point. The Tigers took the gift and extended their lead to to 7-0 before Ignacio senior Alexis Pontine got the 'Cats on the scoreboard with a kill. A double touch, a serve into the strings and a net violation, however, helped the Tigers grow their lead to 10-1. IHS junior setter Laci Brunson later served an ace, but with Wiggins still leading 12-3, Ignacio’s uphill climb was simply too great and the Tigers coasted to a 25-9 win the second game.
IHS battled gamely in game 3 and managed to take an early 5-4 lead before McCullough put down a tying kill. WHS freshman Kennedy Kerr then fired a go-ahead ace, but after another double-contact, IHS fought back to tie at 7-all and again at 8-all – via an unnerving Gonzales kill forcing WHS head coach Michelle Baker into a timeout. Wiggins would regain the lead at 11-10 and never let it go, pulling away to a 20-13 lead when Ignacio senior Lexy Young couldn’t cleanly pass a badly deflected serve reception. Shasta Pontine took a timeout, but Wiggins would sew up the sweep, 25-14, when Ignacio netted an attempted back-row blast.
The Volleycats are still in the 2A title hunt, but will need to win five straight to get the trophy. Ignacio will return to the court at 8 a.m. Friday against No. 4 Soroco of Oak Creek. Soroco received a first-round bye and then fell to No. 5 Holyoke in the second round, 15-8, 25-16 and 25-17.
Holyoke will face No. 1 Sedgwick County, a 3-1 winner over Denver Christian, in the quarterfinals.
Wiggins beat No. 3 Fowler in the second round, 3-1, to advance to Friday’s quarterfinal against either No. 2 Meeker or No. 7 Rye.
