Niwot volleyball 4-1 after first week

The Niwot girls volleyball team opened the season on Wednesday, Aug. 28, with a solid 3-0 win over Class 5A Boulder, which entered the match with a 1-1 record. The Cougars, led by four-year starter Anne Haley, took the first game of the season by a score of 25-18. That set the stage for Haley, Niwot's senior setter, who began the game serving for the Cougars..

Once Haley started serving, Niwot prevailed on every rally, some easy, some hard, with a few aces by Haley thrown in for good measure. Twenty-some years ago, Niwot would have won the second game, 15-0, as games only went to 15 points, and only the serving team could score. As it turned out, Haley was so dominant behind the line that the Cougars finally lost serve when her serve sailed out of bounds, turning the ball over to Boulder with a 15-1 lead. From then on, the teams traded points, with Niwot coming away with a 25-10 victory.

Niwot head coach Tony Engel said he had seen 12-0 runs before in his career, but never a 15-0 opening run. The Cougars closed out the third set with a 25-19 victory, sealing the 3-0 win.

Haley wasn't the only Cougar who excelled on opening night, with a gym full of students and cheerleaders. Junior libero Elise Arends was all over the floor, digging kill shots that looked to be sure points for the Panthers. Junior Bella Berger and senior Jade West had multiple kills for the Cougars, with Berger expertly placing her shots, and West, a three-time state champion in the shot put, overpowering the Boulder defenders.

Haley scored several points by faking a set and slamming the ball over the net with one hand. She had a jaw-dropping return with her back to the court from 10 feet behind the referee, which barely cleared the antenna and the net, dropping untouched on the Boulder side of the court for a point.

Seniors Jiselle Sales and Brooke Caquelin and junior Eloise Vanselus contributed several blocks to the Cougar defense and also assisted in the scoring efforts. Sophomore Addison Ryg also contributed to the Cougar effort.

It was a good night all around for Niwot. "D team, C team, JV, varsity, we didn't drop a single set," Engel said. "It just goes to show the depth of the program."

Engel explained that he had to make almost 40 cuts after tryouts. "We had 20 kids we were looking at that in prior years probably would have [played]. We're young on varsity too. We have three sophomores, We have four seniors who all start, and the rest of them are juniors."

The Cougars went on to play a tournament on Aug. 30 and 31. Niwot won easily against the Academy, 25-10 and 25-21 before taking on host Eaton. Niwot took the first set, 26-24, but lost the next two sets, 25-20 and 15-10 in the rubber game.

Niwot came back Saturday to win 25-12 and 25-22 over Mountain View before taking on Alamosa, which also lost to host Eaton, 2-1, earlier Saturday.

The Cougars started strong, taking the first two sets, 25-18, 25-17, before falling in the third set, 25-18. But Niwot rallied to take the match with a 25-20 fourth game victory over Alamosa, which came into the tournament undefeated.