The Rye High School girls volleyball team punched their ticket to the 2A state tournament to be held at the Denver Coliseum with a pair of victories in the regional tournament they hosted.
Saturday, Rye downed Telluride in three straight sets and they won a hard-fought contest against Holyoke 3-2 to earn the trip to state.
Against #35 seeded Telluride the locals won 25-15; 25-8, and 25-12. Kelsy Stribling had eight kills and four assists in the victory. Isabella Bond had seven kills and two blocks. Seine Roy had three aces from the service line, five digs, and four service receptions.
Jaklyn Newitt had four service aces, and 18 assists. Desiree Ruiz had four digs and 17 service receptions.
Jordan Holgerson had seven kills. Hayley Newitt blocked three shots and Olivia Donlon had four assists.
“ The girls had a heck of a day on Saturday,” assessed Head Coach Michele Roy. “ They played a solid game against Telluride and came away with an easy win in three sets.”
Holyoke, seeded #23, was much tougher as the Thunderbolts expected.
Rye won the first set 29-27 but dropped the next one 25-17. Rye won the third set 25-22 but couldn’t put Holyoke away, dropping the 4th set 25-21. In the match deciding fifth set, Rye came away with a 15-12 victory.
“ The girls responded well and never gave up on themselves”, assessed Roy. “ They didn’t let their mistakes or some questionable calls by the refs define the game.
Our team motto this year is “Hustle and Heart set us apart” and it truly does. We don’t have the height that a lot of teams do and we don’t ride on the achievements of one player. Every single girl on the team has put in the work and has had a role in getting us to this point. They are a great group of girls who support and encourage each other which doesn’t always happen in team sports.”
Roy had two service aces, a dozen service receptions and 23 digs. Bond had nine kills and one block.
Ruiz had 24 digs and 48 service receptions, and two service aces.
Stribling had two service aces and blocked one shot. Holgerson had 22 kills.
Hayley Newitt had one blocked shot and older sister Jaklyn had 26 assists. Donlon had 15 assists. On November 9th Rye will face the winner of Swink (seeded 7) and Limon (seeded 10).
Rye beat Swink 3-2 on September 28. They have not faced Limon this season. The Denver Coliseum is located at 4600 Humboldt St. in Denver, at 6:30 p.m. During the tournament watch the Greenhorn Valley View website and the Greenhorn Valley View Facebook page for results.