GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — Though Glenwood Springs fell a victory short of winning its home volleyball tournament, not a single Demon hung her head in shame afterwards.

That's because of who the Demons lost to - Class 5A Grand Junction Central. And because it's much too early in the season to fret defeats.

"We did so good," junior Toni Gottschalck said. "I'm so proud of everybody. We were close in every single match. Even the last match, we fought really hard."

Glenwood made it interesting against Central, hovering within four or five points until late in each game in a 25-14, 25-16 loss. Even then, effort and hustle never disappeared.

"We love to play schools like that," Gottschalck added. "It gives us a different perspective of different schools, different competition."

Gottschalck finished with three kills and a couple of blocks in that title match. Kelly Lawson added a team-best four kills and Kelsie Hert and Chelsea Vallario each chipped in with three kills.

But Central countered with plenty of firepower at the net. Amy Kame blasted six kills and had three blocks, Haleigh Higgins had five kills and Kaitlyn Grode swatted four kills in wearing down the host Demons.

A 3-1 record for the Friday-Saturday tournament sat well with Demons coach Scott Nykerk, who said his team saw a little of everything as far as the competition went.

"We saw crazy volleyball, and we saw some really good teams," said Nykerk, whose team opened the season with the weekend tourney. "We saw a lot of everything, and now we know what we have to work on."

The coach was impressed with not only his varsity veterans, but also with a couple of newcomers - Billie McCauely and Kelsie Hert.

"We had four or five varsity players coming back, but Kelsie Hert, our big middle, and Billie hit the ball well," he said. "It was good to see them do well their first time playing at this level."

Glenwood lost just one game in its three-match march to the final, defeating Denver Christian in three games on Friday before knocking off West Grand and Pueblo East each in two games on Saturday to win its pool.

Central won its pool with a tough match against Steamboat Springs (31-29, 25-21) and much smoother two-game wins against Hotchkiss and Meeker.

"We did great but we still have a lot of work to do," said Central coach Beth Nelson, whose Warriors fell to Grand Junction High School in last year's Demon title game. "We always like to come to this tournament. It's a good one for us."



Demon Invitational

Aug. 31-Sept. 1 at Glenwood Springs High School

Championship matches

First place

Grand Junction Central d. Glenwood 25-14, 25-16

Third place

Steamboat Springs d. Denver Christian 25-14, 25-14

Fifth place

Meeker d. Pueblo East 25-23, 25-22

Seventh place

Hotchkiss d. West Grand 25-20, 25-19

Pool play standings

Pool A

Team W L

Glenwood 3 0

Denver Christian 1 2

Pueblo East 1 2

West Grand 1 2

Pool B

Team W L

Grand Junction Central 3 0

Steamboat Springs 2 1

Meeker 1 2

Hotchkiss 0 3

Pool play results

Friday's matches

Glenwood d. Denver Christian 25-22, 23-25, 25-19

Pueblo East d. West Grand 25-16, 18-25, 25-18

Grand Junction Central d. Hotchkiss 25-22, 25-18

Steamboat Springs d. Meeker 25-15, 25-20

Saturday's matches

Denver Christian d. Pueblo East 25-10, 23-25, 25-13

Glenwood d. West Grand 25-18, 25-17

West Grand d. Denver Christian 25-18, 16-25, 25-13

Glenwood d. Pueblo East 25-22, 25-21

Steamboat Springs d. Hotchkiss 25-20, 25-20

Grand Junction Central d. Meeker 25-20, 25-14

Meeker d. Hotchkiss 22-25, 25-22, 26-24

Grand Junction Central d. Steamboat Springs 31-29, 25-21