It was an exciting end of the school year. Like everyone else it was not a typical end to the school year. Our high school season was moved to the spring, so I was playing club and high school volleyball at the same time. At times this was very challenging, but also very exciting. My club team, 15-Sherri, won Colorado Crossroads 15-Open and qualified for Nationals in Las Vegas at the end of June. As a starting freshman on my high school team, I lead my team running a 5-1 to a State 5A championship. The journey to win Crossroads and State was not an easy journey. The biggest thing I got out of the past month was to be resilient.
We won the Pikes Peak Conference with a 8-1 record. Winning our league meant that we would host regionals. For Regionals, we played Fort Collins High School and Regis Jesuit High School. Due to the unprecedented year, CHSAA allowed hosting schools to host regionals on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. Rampart High School requested to host regionals on Thursday, since I was playing in the Northern Lights JNQ in Omaha, Nebraska on Friday - Saturday, April 30th - May 2nd. Fort Collins High School decided they would not play us on Thursday unless Rampart High School would let them host regionals. On Thursday, April 29th, we traveled to Fort Colins and beat both Regis Jesuit and Fort Collins in three. Winning regionals meant that we would have the opportunity to compete in State. That evening after regionals, my mom drove me overnight to Omaha, Nebraska so that I could play the next morning in the Northern Lights Tournament with my club team.
My Colorado Juniors club team had a disappointing start. As a team we had not competed together in 5-weeks, and it really showed. We had all been juggling high school and club practice at the same time. After the first day, we did not advance to the gold bracket. It was very disappointing, but we focused on getting better as a team because Crossroads was the next weekend. We ended up with a 5-4 record finishing in 19th place.
On the weekend of May 8th, we played in the Colorado Crossroads JNQ 15-Open Division. We went undefeated with an 8-0 record, only losing 1 set the entire weekend. We played really good as a team and qualified for Junior Nationals. On Sunday, we played Alamo 15 Premier in the finals beating them in two sets. I was an integral part of the success this weekend by serving tough, setting when I was in the back row, and hitting and passing while in the front row.
I could not celebrate long because on Monday I was back in the gym focusing on the upcoming State tournament on May 12th. In the quarterfinals, we beat Legend in 3 sets. Then beat Ralston Valley in the semifinals (3-1) and Grandview (won 3-1) in the finals. It was so exciting to win the Colorado 5A State Championship. This was the very first Volleyball State Championship for Rampart High School. Winning a state championship is everyones dream and I accomplished this running a 5-1 as a freshman. But even better, I was able to win State with my sister. This is a moment we will both cherish. To view the newspaper article above, click HERE.
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