GREELEY — If anyone believes the annual Colorado Coaches Association All-State Games are simply an exhibition of fun and games, they did not see Alysa Birdsall and Kenzi Mitzner in action Saturday.
Of all the emphatic kills delivered by Birdsall, a former standout at Cherokee Trail, none was more monstrous than a facial she delivered against Tonya Mulkey of Durango in Game 3 of the championship volleyball match at the University of Northern Colorado’s Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion.
Meanwhile, Mitzner employed the “refuse to lose” mentality she invoked for four seasons at Rock Canyon by unleashing a series of furious kills, as the duo helped lead the Red Team to a championship victory against the Black Team in a highly contested match that ended on an unusual, and somewhat awkward, note.
“I don’t lose,” said Mitzner, who led Rock Canyon in kills for four consecutive seasons. “It makes me very mad when I lose, and I’m very competitive. It was a fun experience, getting to play with other people and girls from other clubs that I also got to play with instead of against. I wish we would have won on a better end call, but a win is a win, I guess.”
It was an evenly matched battle in which the Red squad outlasted the Black 24-26, 25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 15-13. Despite the fast-paced attack led by Mitzner and Birdsall, the Black squad rallied from a 13-7 deficit in the deciding fifth game to crawl within 14-13.
The Black Team then lofted a high, arcing return shot that skimmed under the Butler-Hancock rafters and confused the Red Team defenders, dropping in play to earn an apparent point that tied the match at 14-14.
However, the officials ruled the ball glanced off a light cable far above the net. By rule, the call was reversed and ruled out of bounds, giving the Red Team a tiebreaking 15-13 win.
“I love it when teams are so good that we have to compete and actually try our hardest,” said Birdsall, who played the final competitive volleyball match of her career before she hangs up her gym shoes and moves on to the University of Dayton.
“It’s fun that way. Everyone was swinging their hardest and wasn’t holding back. I’m going to miss it.”
