It should come as no surprise that two schools that share the same mascot are equally similar on the volleyball court.
After appearing in the state championship match for the past three years and leaving empty-handed, the Kit Carson Wildcats outlasted the Fleming Wildcats to win the Class 1A state volleyball championship.
A well-balanced Kit Carson (30-1), led by four-year varsity players Cindy Mays and Jill Ball, won 25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 25-21, 15-13, after trailing early in every game after the first.
Coach Penny Isenbart of Kit Carson knew what had to be done to help her team win their school’s second state championship in any sport, and first in volleyball.
“This was our last game of the season – we just had to play with our hearts,” Isenbart said.
Nearly every time Fleming put 6-foot-2 senior Amy Einspahr on the court, Kit Carson immediately countered by sending out their own 6-2 senior, Melissa Jolly.
“Everybody did their job that needed to be done. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Isenbart said.
It looked like Fleming (28-2) was going to clinch a title in its first trip to state in 25 years early in the fourth game when it jumped to a 5-0 lead, yet Kit Carson remained focused and fought back to take the lead for the first time at 18-17, forcing a fifth game.
The inability to put Kit Carson away didn’t deter Fleming in the fifth game, as it jumped to a 3-0 lead, the third time in the match that Fleming lead by at least that much to start a game.
As it had done over the entire match, though, Kit Carson refused to accept finishing second.
“They were two good teams. They made some plays, we had some mistakes,” said Fleming coach Derek Herbert, whose team was led by sophomore Lynnae Cox.
The experience of playing in past state championships proved useful to Kit Carson, and may benefit Fleming down the road because of the youth of the team. Only four seniors will be not around next year for Fleming, a fact that may worry other 1A teams.
“We’ve played together forever,” Kit Carson outside hitter Mays said when asked how she and Ball always seemed to know what the other was doing.”
All-tourney team
Jill Ball, Kit Carson, sr.
Lynnae Cox, Fleming, soph.
Amy Einspahr, Fleming, jr.
Tara Long, Peetz, sr.
Cindy Mays, Kit Carson, sr.
Jessie Wilson, North Park, sr.
MVP: Mays
