LAKEWOOD — With two returning all-state players, including Colorado player of the year Nicole Dalton, Chaparral’s chances of repeating as Class 5A volleyball champion already looked good.
Add 6-foot-3 Duke University signee Elizabeth Campbell, who transferred from the state of North Carolina, and the Wolverines might be untouchable.
Regis Jesuit, the preseason No. 2 team, probably wouldn’t disagree. Chaparral spotted the host team the first set, then regrouped and rolled to a 3-1 (21-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-21) victory in Saturday’s championship game of the Regis Jesuit Volleyball Jam at Gold Crown.
Dalton, the tournament’s MVP, and University of Colorado signee Emily Podschweit turned in their usual stellar performances, which in themselves might have been enough for the Wolverines.
Campbell made sure it was.
She was especially effective late in the fourth set, having a hand in five of her team’s last eight points after Chaparral trailed 19-18. Campbell finished the match with 12 kills, two down the stretch to go with a service ace, and was flawless in the set with no hitting errors. Dalton, who played all over the court, had 22 kills. Podschweit, a defensive wizard, had 13.
“She’s blended in seamlessly, I’d say,” Chaparral coach T.R. Ellis said of Campbell. “It helps that she’s been at the school since January. Elizabeth, Emily and Nicole play on the same club team, but (Campbell) didn’t play at Chaparral until August.”
Chaparral figured Regis would come out smoking in the battle of Continental League rivals.
“We played more cautiously in the second and third sets, and gangbusters in the other two,” Regis coach Laura Dunston said. “Chaparral’s really good.”
