Playoffs ahead for area teams
The state prep playoff schedule is set.
Three area teams in two sports hope to advance toward a state title when play resumes in the volleyball and football playoffs this weekend.
Volleyball
Action gets started at 8 a.m. Friday morning when the undefeated Glenwood Springs Demons (27-0) open pool play in the Class 4A volleyball tournament at the Denver Coliseum.
Glenwood is the No. 2 seed among the eight 4A teams. The eight teams are split into two pools of four teams each for the opening round of the playoffs.
The Demons are the top team in Pool II. They start pool play against No. 7-seeded Colorado Springs Cheyenne Mountain (22-5) Friday morning, then face No. 6 seed Lewis-Palmer of Monument (25-2) later Friday afternoon.
Glenwood concludes pool play Saturday morning with 25-1 Montez uma-Cortez, the No. 3 seed.
Loveland Mountain View, the other undefeated team left in Class 4A, is the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed, and heads up Pool I.
Other teams in Pool I include No. 4 Sterling (22-5), No. 5 Arvada Ralston Valley (26-1) and No. 8 Windsor (22-5).
The two teams with the best win-loss records from each pool advances to the semifinals. In the semifinals, teams will be cross-bracketed with the Pool 1 championship facing the Pool 2 runner-up and the Pool 2 champ going against the Pool 1 runner-up.
Semifinal winners play for the 4A championship, scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
The starting time for all state volleyball tournament matches, except for the championship match, are determined as courts become available.
Football
Rifle, the Class 3A football playoff wild card team, takes on Western Slope Conference champion Palisade at 7 p.m. Friday in a first-round game at Stocker Stadium in Grand Junction.
During the regular season, the Bears, who finished 7-3 overall, defeated Palisade (9-1), 35-14, on Sept. 19.
The Rifle-Palisade winner willplays the winner of Saturday’s Elizabeth-Fountain Fort Carson game on Nov. 15.
At 1 p.m. Saturday, 10-0 Roaring Fork travels to 9-1 Estes Park for a Class 2A quarterfinal game. The winning team moves on to the 2A semifinals on Nov. 15.
The Rams advanced to the next round on a 27-3 victory over La Junta last weekend in Carbondale. Estes Park reached the quarterfinals by defeating Kent Denver, 27-21, in overtime.
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