LAKEWOOD — Defeating Green Mountain’s girls volleyball team on their home court has been a formidable challenge. The Rams, who have won back-to-back Class 4A Jeffco League titles, hadn’t lost a regular-season match at home since Fall 2021. However, on Tuesday night, Arvada West rose to the occasion, clinching a hard-fought 5-set victory.
“This is a new level for us,” said A-West coach Debbie Erickson, reflecting on the Wildcats’ 22-25, 25-17, 26-24, 10-25, 15-9 triumph. “We’ve been building toward this for four years, and our program is improving every season.”
The Wildcats, now 2-0, managed to spoil Green Mountain’s season and home opener. After splitting the first two sets, A-West edged out a win in the third set, taking a 2-1 lead. Green Mountain responded with a dominant 25-10 win in the fourth set, forcing a decisive fifth set.
“After the fourth set, we just reset,” said A-West senior Sammy Guenther. “We treated it like a new game.”
In the final set, A-West capitalized on three early service errors by the Rams. Guenther, along with fellow senior Elizabeth Edone, delivered key kills that propelled the Wildcats to a 15-9 victory.
“We gave it everything we had,” Guenther added. “We wanted this win so badly.”
Arvada West is determined to improve on last season’s 10-13 overall record and 1-6 performance in the 5A Jeffco league.
“These girls were truly tested tonight,” Erickson said, noting their earlier road win against Evergreen. “Green Mountain is an exceptional team with a great program, but we kept making necessary adjustments.”
A-West successfully contained Green Mountain’s senior outside hitter, Ashlynn Reilly, in the fifth set. Reilly, who racked up 255 kills last year, had been instrumental in Green Mountain’s victories in the first and fourth sets.
The 6-foot-3 senior also played for Green Mountain’s softball team earlier in the day, going 3-for-3 at the plate before hustling to the volleyball match.
“If we set her (Reilly) too often, teams will focus their defense on her, which we want to avoid,” said Green Mountain coach Melanie Watkins. “We have talented sophomore hitters who can step up and support her.”
Erickson praised her team’s ability to adjust against Reilly’s powerful play. “She’s an amazing player,” Erickson said. “I told our girls that facing players like her helps us improve.”
Green Mountain, coming off their first-ever back-to-back conference titles with an 18-0 record in 4A Jeffco over the past two seasons, is in a transitional phase after losing several key players to graduation.
“It’s going to take some time,” Watkins acknowledged. “We’ve got a lot of new young players, and it’s about merging last year’s two teams into one this season.”
