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Preps: Aspen volleyball rallies to win regional, will play in state tournament

Basalt football falls in first round to No. 1 Strasburg

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Austin Colbert

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Aspen High School volleyball players Andrea Lee, left, and Mary Morse celebrate with the championship plaque after beating The Vanguard School in the regional final on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, inside the AHS gymnasium. The Skiers won in five sets to advance to the state tournament.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Youth and inexperience eventually succumbed to talent and confidence.

Trailing early in the regional final on Saturday, the Aspen High School volleyball team rallied to beat The Vanguard School in five sets inside the AHS gymnasium, punching the Skiers’ ticket to this week’s Class 3A state tournament in Denver.

“We came out with a lot of nerves in the first set. This is still a young team,” AHS coach David Chadbourne said after the game. “Once we got ourselves calmed down, I knew good things were going to happen for us. We took our foot off the gas a little bit in a couple of those sets, and that cost us; but at the end of the day, we came back and got the ‘W,’ and that’s what goes in the books.”

After going 18-5 in the regular season and finishing second to Gunnison in the 3A Western Slope League, AHS was awarded the No. 11 seed in the 36-team regional field, allowing it to host the regional tournament for the first time in recent memory. And, after wins over No. 26 KIPP Denver Collegiate and No. 14 Vanguard on Saturday, the Skiers now head to the 12-team state final, which begins on Thursday inside the Denver Coliseum.

With the MaxPreps archives only going back as far as the 2007 season, it’s not immediately clear when the last time AHS volleyball hosted a playoff game or made the state tournament, but it’s not believed to have been in the past two decades.


“I think we will do well in states. I’m very excited for what is ahead of us,” AHS junior middle hitter Andrea Lee said. “I’m really excited to see, pulling off this win, that it’s going to give us a lot of momentum into this weekend and give us the confidence we need to do well and hopefully win.”

The three-team regional tournament was a round-robin format, with each team playing the other two. In the opener on Saturday afternoon, Aspen was able to dispatch KIPP Denver in three sets, winning with scores of 25-16, 25-16, and 25-8. The White Tigers were essentially eliminated in the second game, a 3-0 loss to Vanguard. Set scores were 25-14, 25-18, and 25-9.

The Aspen High School volleyball team, left, hosts The Vanguard School in a regional playoff game on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, inside the AHS gymnasium.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
Aspen High School junior Elena Creamer, left, plays defense as the volleyball team hosts The Vanguard School in a regional playoff game on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, inside the AHS gymnasium.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

This led to the winner-take-all final between Aspen and Vanguard. And, like their identical records going into the game, it was a dead heat from the start. After falling behind early and losing the first set, 25-23, the Skiers bounced back to win the second and third sets by scores of 25-20 and 25-19, respectively, to take control of the match.

However, a lackluster fourth set led to a 25-20 Vanguard win, sending the teams to a decisive fifth set with everything on the line.

“These girls have grit, and what I reminded them of is if they looked at their schedule last year, how many five-setters we won,” Chadbourne said. “So, before we went into the fifth set, I said, ‘You have this in your toolbox. It’s something you can do. You’ve been here before, and you’ve won many of those games, and I know you can do it again, and you need to step up and do it.’ And they remembered that, and I think that helped give them the confidence to go ahead and finish here in the end.”

The Skiers controlled the fifth set from the start, eventually winning 15-10, leading to a celebration at midcourt the likes of which the program hasn’t seen for decades.

Aspen High School volleyball players, from left, Andrea Lee, Mary Morse, and Belle Sinclair celebrate moments after beating The Vanguard School in a regional playoff game on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, inside the AHS gymnasium. The Skiers won in five sets to advance to the state tournament.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
The Aspen High School volleyball team and coaches pose with their new hardware after beating The Vanguard School in a regional playoff game on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, inside the AHS gymnasium. The Skiers won in five sets to advance to the state tournament.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Now 20-5 overall, Aspen will be one of 12 teams vying for the 3A championship in Denver this week. The state tournament — all classifications play at the same time, like state wrestling — is double elimination until the semifinals and finals. Eleven of the 12 regional champions were hosts, the only seed upset being No. 13 Village beating No. 12 Prospect Ridge Academy in Region 12.

While the seeds could change for state once the brackets are released on Monday, the rest of the 3A state tourney field will include No. 1 Alamosa, No. 2 Resurrection Christian, No. 3 Eaton, No. 4 Forge Christian, No. 5 Stargate School, No. 6 Bayfield, No. 7 The Classical Academy, No. 8 Sterling, No. 9 Gunnison, and No. 10 Centauri. The top four seeds get a first-round bye.

“It’s been a long time, so we are happy to go back on the big stage,” Chadbourne said. “And I’m thrilled for these kids that they get to do it their junior year, which is super freaking cool.”

This is his second season leading the Skiers after serving as an assistant prior to his promotion; AHS went 13-11 in 2024. Previously, he had served as the head coach at Basalt. This year’s team remains young, with mostly juniors and a few sophomores making up the roster.

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And this already has the players dreaming big about next season, regardless of how state goes this week in Denver.

“It’s been the same group of girls. We’ve been playing together since seventh grade and it’s a big moment for us,” Lee said. “We have no seniors on the team, and we’ve worked so hard for this. We play year-round playing club, and some of us play beach, and this is such a big moment for us and shows that next year, as seniors, it’s going to be an amazing season, too.”

Longhorns take Strasburg to wire

The Basalt football season ended Saturday with a 21-17 loss at No. 1 Strasburg in the first round of the Class 2A state tournament. Seeded No. 16 in the 16-team tourney, the Longhorns actually controlled most of the game and led in the fourth quarter with a chance to pull off the stunner against the playoff’s top overall seed.

But a late score by the Indians, now 10-0, allowed them to escape, leaving Strasburg to play No. 9 Eaton (a 27-13 winner over No. 8 La Junta) in the second round. Basalt finishes at 6-4 overall.

Other first-round 2A results included No. 4 Elizabeth beating No. 13 Pagosa Springs (44-38); No. 5 Brush beating No. 12 Delta (28-7); No. 2 Wellington beating No. 15 Alamosa (48-0); No. 7 Resurrection Christian beating No. 10 Denver West (49-0); No. 6 Kent Denver beating No. 11 Lamar (48-14); and No. 3 The Classical Academy beating No. 14 Florence (56-14).

The 3A football brackets were announced Sunday, with Glenwood Springs not making the field. The Demons finish the fall 5-5 overall following Friday’s 21-7 loss to Palisade, which landed the No. 3 seed in the tournament. Windsor is No. 1 and Pomona is No. 2.

Coal Ridge soccer bounced

The 3A boys soccer semifinals are set. No. 8 The Academy upset No. 1 Colorado Academy and will play No. 4 Kent Denver in one semifinal on Wednesday, while No. 3 Steamboat Springs will play No. 2 Jefferson Academy in the other.

No. 7 Coal Ridge had its season end to Jefferson Academy in the quarterfinals, falling 3-2. The Titans finish the fall 13-4-1.

acolbert@aspentimes.com

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