LITTLETON — Ali Longo saw the sixth-ranked Regis Raiders from a slightly different perspective Wednesday night.
“They have a big team, but we have an aggressive team,” the Chatfield senior said. “So obviously, height doesn’t matter, even though everybody thinks it does. I think intensity matters. Being short myself . . .”
Short, of course, is relative when you can jump out of the gym and hit through the walls, which is what Longo did regularly as the Chargers swept the Raiders for a 25-20, 25-23, 25-19 Class 5A nonleague victory.
Longo had 21 kills and 15 assists for the Chargers (11-3), who previously upset then-No. 1 Chaparral. Junior Mary Pollmiller had 11 kills and 19 assists to give Chatfield a potent 1-2 punch that was backed up by some stellar defense — namely senior Stephanie Coufal.
The Chargers won the emotional battle against the depleted Raiders (11-3). Although they weren’t always dangerous in the middle, the Chargers managed to get the pivotal kills, even when everyone knew who the ball was going to and where.
“My girls have fun,” Chatfield coach Stephanie Schick said. “That’s one thing that I think is our success — they work hard, but they know they can be themselves and have a good time with it.”
Regis coach Laura Dunston made no excuses for her team’s struggles. She said the team might have been rattled after learning before the game that senior libero Anna Atencio (fractured patella) will probably miss the rest of the season.
“I was afraid what we were going to do tonight when we found that out,” Dunston said. “We were just not together tonight. It’s no excuse. We didn’t play well.”
Kristina Lavrisha and Sarah Schmid paced the Raiders with seven kills apiece. Schmid added four blocks.
