DENVER – The Alamosa High School volleyball team gave it a good effort in the Class 3A state championship match against Eaton Saturday at the Denver Coliseum. However, the Mean Moose fell behind early and couldn’t quite come back as they lost to the Reds in four sets.

Eaton set the pace by winning the first two sets. The first set was close all the way before the Reds won 26-24. The second set was all Eaton as it took the early lead and went on to a 25-17 win.

Alamosa took the early lead in the third set, but Eaton came back to take a 21-17 lead. The Mean Moose scored eight of the final 10 points to take a 25-23 win and cut the Reds’ lead to two sets to one.

Eaton took a 7-3 lead to begin the fourth set. Alamosa rallied to come to tie the score at 20-20, however, the Reds took a 24-22 lead.

The Mean Moose scored three straight points to take a 25-24 lead. But Eaton scored the final three points to win the championship by a score of 27-25.

Ashlyn Rice was the offensive leader as she recorded 32 assists. Aubrey Rothermich was the leading hitter with 16 kills, followed by Kyla Hawkins with 15, Laci Christensen with 13 and Arreli Felix with six.

The Mean Moose had five service aces with Leela Gutierrez, Addison Rice, Christensen, Jaelin Garcia and Rothermich each serving up one.

Alamosa def. The Classical Academy

The Mean Moose advanced to the championship with a comeback win against the Classical Academy earlier on Saturday.

The Titans won the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-15. TCA took the early lead in both sets and held off the Mean Moose.

Alamosa started its comeback by winning the third set 25-17. The Mean Moose started strong and went on to record the win.

It tied the match with a 25-12 win in the fourth set. Once again, Alamosa started quickly and dominated the rest of the set.

The fifth set was a back-and-forth affair with the Mean Moose taking the lead and holding off the Titans by a score of 15-12.

Ashlyn Rice had 49 assists to lead the Mean Moose. Rothermich had 29 kills, followed by Christensen with 19, and Kyla Hawkins and Felix both with nine.

Alamosa had 10 aces with Rothermich leading with four and Kyla Hawkins had three. Gutierrez, Addison Rice and Christensen each had one.

Alamosa def. The Village

The Mean Moose defeated last year’s state champ, The Village, in the third round on Friday. They won in four sets.

The Mountaineers took an early lead in the first set, but Alamosa rallied to take a 23-15 advantage. The Village attempted a comeback, but it fell short by a score of 25-22.

The Mean Moose took another lead to open the second set, but the Mountaineers came from behind to take a 25-23 win.

The Village again took an early lead in the third set, but once again, Alamosa took the lead late. The Mountaineers tied the score, but the Mean Moose scored the final two points for a 25-23 win.

It was all Alamosa in the fourth set as it won 25-11.

Ashlyn Rice had 42 assists, and Rothermich led the hitting game with 22 kills. Kyla Hawkins had 17, followed by Christensen with 11, and Felix with six.

Alamosa served up seven aces with Gutierrez leading with four. Kyla Hawkins, Addison Rice and Rothermich each had one.

Alamosa finished the season with 27 wins and two losses. It loses only three seniors to graduation in Christensen, Garcia and Rothermich.

Sargent

The Farmers had an impressive showing as it recovered from Thursday’s loss to Merino and advanced to the third round of the consolation bracket. However, they lost to Fleming in three sets and fell short of the semifinals.

Sargent won in four sets against Hi-Plains in its first match on Friday by scores of 26-24, 25-18, 23-25 and 25-15.

Statistics were unavailable.

The Farmers then dominated Granada in their final match on Friday winning in three sets. The scores were 25-18, 25-6 and 25-15.

Reese Anderson led the way with 30 assists. Denver Holman was the top hitter with 15 kills, followed by Kandace Pargin with 14, and Kimmy Pargin with 10.

Sargent had eight aces and was led by Isabella Anderson with four, Kandace Pargin with two, and Catherin Deacon and Reese Anderson both with one.

Sargent was defeated by Fleming by scores of 25-14, 25-14 and 25-17.

Reese Anderson had 19 assists. Kandace Pargin led the hitting game with nine kills, followed by Holman with seven and Kimmy Pargin with five.

The Farmers had six aces with Kimmy Pargin leading with two. Isabella Anderson, Deacon, Reese Anderson and Kaylee Voss all had one.

Fleming went on to win the Class 1A state championship.

Sargent’s final record was 25 wins and four losses.

Centauri

The Falcons saw their season come to an end on Friday as they lost to Sterling in three sets.

The Tigers won a close one in the first set by a score of 25-22. They took a 25-19 win in the second set and were victorious in the third, 25-15.

Kenadie Wilfong was the offensive leader with 36 assists. Kynlei Curtis and Mikasa Gilleland led the hitting game with eight kills apiece, while Rylie McCarroll had seven, and Analynn Dwyer had five.

Centauri had a final record of 17 wins and 10 losses.

Sanford

The Mustangs’ season also ended on Friday as they were defeated by Dolores in four sets.

The Bears won the first set 25-20, bit Sanford won the second 25-23. Dolores took the last two sets by identical scores of 25-23.

Avery Koenig led the Mustang offense with 31 assists. Bella Peterson led the hitting game with 12 kills, followed by Claire Crowther with 12, Jewel Caldon with seven, and Koenig and Rose Schwartz both with six.

Sanford had nine aces with Brinlyn Smith, Koenig and Schwartz each with three.

Sanford’s final record was 20 wins and five losses.