Otis High School’s volleyball team is headed back to the big show.
The Bulldogs will be competing in the Class 1A State Tournament, Thursday through Saturday, at the Denver Coliseum. They were able to get in their regional match last Saturday as scheduled, beating South Baca in straight sets.
However, many other regionals were delayed until Monday, so the 12-team, double-elimination bracket was not released until Tuesday.
Otis, 19-5, is the fourth seed in the 1A field. The Bulldogs have a first-round bye, and will play at approximately 3:30 p.m. against the winner of the McClave-Weldon Valley match earlier Thursday.
If they win, they advance to the third round on Friday for a match at approximately 2 p.m., most likely against top-seed Merino.
If they were to lose their first match, they would play a Contenders Bracket match at 8 a.m. on Friday.
A final four will be determined by late Saturday morning, with semifinals set for 12 noon and 2 p.m., and the championship match at 6.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs lost in straight sets Thursday to McClave, then lost 3-0 again Friday morning against Briggsdale, finishing with a 19-7 record.
Besides Merino and Otis, Idalia is the second seed and Fleming the third.
The Bulldogs had little trouble last Saturday morning in dispatching South Baca, a cooperative team consisting of students from Campo, Vilas and Pritchett schools.
They won the first match 25-13, and dominated even more from there with wins of 25-9 and 25-8, sending them back to the state tournament again. Otis volleyball has a been a regular in the state tournament for most of the past 30-plus years, including multiple state championships.
Layce Perry led the net attack with 15 kills, while Kensley Packer had nine, Aedyn Tribelhorn seven, and Crysten Goble three. Six other players had one kill, including senior Madelyn Willeke, who recorded her 1,000th career kill at the end of the regular season. Goble had 29 setting assists.
Otis served 93 percent and recorded 14 aces. Tribelhorn was 22-22 with four aces, Raya Routh 18-19 with four aces, Madison Reynolds 9-9 with two aces, Lydia Willeke 7-7 with one ace, Perry 6-7 with two aces, and Goble 6-9 with one ace.
LONE STAR VOLLEYBALL
Lone Star’s volleyball season came to an end last Friday in the Class 1A regional round.
The Longhorns made the short trip north to third-seed Fleming, losing in three sets, 15-25, 12-25, 10-25. They went 12-12 in the 2024 season.
Statistics were not available as of earlier this week. Jaylin Weber was the only senior on this year’s team, so plenty of players will be returning next season.