Games were in full swing at the Denver Coliseum when the Fossil Ridge High School volleyball team started their warm-ups for their first game of the 2018 CHSAA State Championship. Their opponent Grandview High School had already been played and beat in the regular season, but today was a new day and the Sabercats had to beat them one more time to stay in the championship. Later that day they would go on to play Windsor High School, who was playing in their first 5A State Championship and had had a bye for their first playoff game. The game between the Wizards and the Sabercats determined who would go on to the Great Eight.

Wolves stared down Sabercats across the net, it was a fight for redemption on both sides. One team wanted to beat the team they had lost too earlier in their season and the other wanted to reclaim the State Title. The first set was a sweep and Fossil easily took it 25-15, but the game would not be won as easy. Grandview put up a bigger fight and the set was closer than before as the Wolves began blocking powerful spikes and calling simple tips. Despite the less than comfortable closeness the scoreboard showed, it was Fossil who took the set 25-22. Another sweep in the third set, 25-17, meant the Sabercats would go on to play Windsor later that day.

It was the first time the Wizards stepped onto the 5A court and their first opponent was the Sabercats. Despite being seeded above Fossil, Windsor would not be going on to play in the Great Eight. After a first, 25-14, and second, 25-16, set sweep, the Sabercats were looking good to take it. Then out of nowhere, Windsor came back in the third set with a vengeance. For a majority of the third set the Wizards kept the lead over Fossil, and every time the Sabercats caught up Windsor knocked them down again. Fossil had not come all that way to be defeated on day one though, and in the end, they redeemed themselves. The Sabercats took the third set 25-21 to advance to the Great Eight game the next day at 2:00 P.M. against Chaparral High Schoool.