The revenge factor can be a powerful tool. It certainly was for Doherty High School on Friday.
The eighth-seeded Spartans came into the first day of play at the Class 5A state volleyball tournament knowing they would have not one, but two chances to avenge a couple of earlier defeats. When freshman Cierra Simpson blocked the final point for a 25-22, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23 upset of top-seeded Pine Creek at the Denver Coliseum, Doherty was well on its way.
“Everybody just picked it up. The earlier game against them, we weren’t getting to our position and moving. We were just going through the motions,” Simpson said. “But today it was much different. . . . We all were going for balls that we wouldn’t be going for normally.”
Pine Creek, which had won 16 consecutive matches, had a four-game home victory over Doherty last month and had only given up five games during its winning streak. But Friday was a different story.
“As a team we didn’t play that well (in the first meeting), but we were ready to play today,” Simpson said.
Doherty (22-6), the lowest seed in the field, then came back in the afternoon to beat Arapahoe 25-23, 25-22, 25-17. Arapahoe beat the Spartans at regionals. Pine Creek (24-4) bounced back from its first loss to beat Ponderosa in four sets to keep its title hopes alive. That’s all the Eagles wanted to do.
“I think it was just kind of one of those things where everybody here deserves to be here. It is a fight from the beginning. We knew that going in,” Pine Creek coach Ashlynn Smith said. “We just had to put that one aside and fight for the next two knowing we can be 2-1. You can be 2-1 and be first or second and still move on.”
