The 2013 Fossil Ridge High School volleyball season came to an abrupt end, one that many did not see coming.
The girls went to the state tournament composed of the best teams in Colorado at the 5a level. They played a couple games on Nov. 8 and won both. It was a good start for the girls, however they were games that they were expected to win going into the tournament.
On Saturday Nov. 9, FRHS played against Eaglecrest High School. Despite the momentum they had going, the girls met their match. The team started off strong, winning the first two sets. They needed to win one more set in order to move on to the next round which after being up two sets, seemed within reach. The game took an unexpected turn when junior Shannon Lanza, the team’s starting libero, got injured with a high angle sprain. Lanza, a starter at libero the entire season, was replaced by reserve junior Jenna Dolan. Dolan came in and played outstanding in her absence with 9 digs and an impressive all-around game. Despite the consistent play from Dolan and the rest of the team, Eaglecrest had a roaring comeback, winning the next two sets. Then with both teams each winning two sets apiece, it came down to the fifth set to decide the winner of the match. Although Eaglecrest had all of the momentum after winning two sets in a row, Fossil FRHS rose to the occasion. Lanza surprised everybody, including her own teammates, and came back into the game for the final set. The last set was an intense match with the lead changing multiple times between the teams. In the end Eaglecrest’s rally was too much for FRHS and they started to pull ahead during the final stages of the match to take the set 15 to 11 and move on to the next round.
The loss was very tough for the girls, who had high aspirations for the state tournament after going 25-2 in the regular season. As to why they were upset by a lower seed, Jenna Dolan said, “The main reason we lost is we let the name of state get to our heads and we didn’t give it our all.”
In spite of the disappointing loss at state, the season was overall a huge success. Dolan described the season as “successful” and said, “going to state is a huge accomplishment in itself. Dolan said the main reason they were able to accomplish this record was because “we were very smart with the ball and we intertwined our individual skills together to execute our plays.” They achieved great feats such as taking down Doherty, the fourth ranked team in state, and being ranked number one in state at one point during the season.
Going forward, the team still has plenty of talent and has a shot at making a big run at state next year. Dolan said, “Although we are only losing three seniors, we need to find a way to fulfill their positions. If we can do that than hopefully we can have another chance at state.” The team is losing two setters, Sarah Dannettell and Katelyn Schwartz, as well as outside hitter Jordan Moore. Over the offseason, the team will hold open gyms and a lot of the players on the team will be playing on club teams and biding their time until next year.
