Unlike a year ago, the Otis volleyball team isn’t sneaking up on anybody at the Class 1A state tournament.
The Bulldogs came to the Denver Coliseum with a perfect record and the tourney’s top seed.
“We don’t ever talk about being unbeaten,” veteran Otis coach Bonnie Wallin-Kuntz said. “I have a great bunch of girls on this team who just hate to lose.”
Otis lived up to its billing Friday, beating Weldon Valley (25-19, 20-25, 25-23, 26-24) and McClave (27-25, 27-25, 25-15) in consecutive pool-play matches.
“Weldon Valley was a very good team and McClave was a lot better than I thought they would be,” said Wallin-Kuntz, whose team lost in three games to Fleming in the state championship match last season. “I’m happy with the way my girls played.”
Otis (27-0) concludes pool play today with a match against North Park (21-7) at 8 a.m.
The Bulldogs are atop the Pool I standings, while Fleming and Hi-Plains are tied atop Pool II. All three squads have 2-0 records. Fleming and Hi-Plains will play the second match of the day for seeding purposes.
The top two teams in each pool will play cross-bracket semifinal matches today. The championship is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Otis has won two state volleyball titles in its history. The Bulldogs beat Cheraw (15-6, 15-7) and Flagler (15-10, 12-15, 15-6) in 1998 and 2002, respectively.
“If we want to have success (today), we need to control the net and play good defense,” Wallin-Kuntz said. “We also need to get our own offensive attack going.”
Fleming (26-3), the No. 2 seed, has won back-to-back 1A titles and has been in the championship match three consecutive years. The Wildcats lost in five games to Kit Carson in 2006.
“We just need to play consistent and not give up easy points (today),” said Fleming coach Derek Herbert, whose team has lost to Otis twice this season.
Fleming had a 65-match winning streak snapped when it lost to Weldon Valley in the season opener this year.
