NHS girls volleyball puts Severance away in three sets, falls to Thompson Valley

Niwot High School's volleyball team is proof statistics and records do not tell the complete story.

Before Wednesday night's game on Sept. 20, Niwot had a split record. Facing Severance High School with three wins and three losses, a victory would be a nice way to start fresh.

And with a 3-0 sweep of the Silver Knights, the Cougars did just that. Walking in with a record that tied Severance High's record at the time, the numbers would suggest a close match. But when broken down, head coach Tony Engel never had a doubt this game would result in a victory.

"We lost to the number one and number two teams in the state as it relates to 4A," he said. "The three losses that we've got gives us the highest RPI in all of 4A. We're going to be just fine the more matches that we play. We'll end up with a couple more W's on the record."

Going into the contest, Engel was confident in his lineup's ability, especially because of the depth on the roster. With five seniors leading the way and four juniors ready to step up, the Cougars showed there was no weak spot on the team.

"We've got a pretty talented group of kids," Engel said. "They range in age from sophomore to juniors to seniors. I have a lot of confidence in them all, so when we get out and take care of business on our own side of the net, good things happen."

Coach Engel's confidence in the skill of his players was not misplaced. The senior class stepped up to the plate with Addison Engel tallying 11 kills for the match, and she was joined in her success by Sami Sessa and Julia Dadey with 13 and seven service aces, respectively. Sophomore Bella Berger with eight digs and junior Anne Haley with 19 assists were also team leaders.

The Cougars used their full lineup and eventually won the first set, 25-17, against the Silver Knights, despite a shaky start. The Cougars, fueled by the momentum of the first set, won the second set handily, 25-10.

As the lineup relaxed into the third set, the Silver Knights took a brief lead over Niwot. Unfazed, the Cougars finished what they set out to do and walked away with a home court win for homecoming week. Like the theme for most of the night, Engel was not surprised.

"If you take out the errors we had in the first set, the score was effectively the same. In the third set we just got behind a little bit and they started getting a little momentum. We decided to come back from that and our experience really showed up tonight."

Every player played a crucial role, but setter Anne Haley made some remarkable additions. Firing on all pistons, she tallied three kills, 11 service assists, 10 digs, and 19 assists.

With the top conference team just on the horizon, Haley was confident in what she saw against the Silver Knights and what it would mean for the Cougars going forward to their next match and the rest of the season.

"I feel really good," she said. "We have a really big match tomorrow (Sept. 21 against Thompson Valley High School) and I feel like this match prepared us for that. I think we came out really strong, we just have to stop the runs and stay as consistent as possible for tomorrow. I feel really good. I think we're going to do well the rest of the season. Just keeping up the conference play, keeping things fast, keeping things consistent, and we're going to be super successful this season."

The Cougars lost to fifth-ranked Thompson Valley 3-0, Sept. 21. The first set saw the Cougars fall 25-15, and the second set was the same story at 25-14. Niwot rallied in the third set, but fell 25-20 to the Eagles. The Cougars managed only 13 kills on 52 attempts, while the Eagles connected on 37 out of 64 attempts. Niwot's next game is Tuesday, Sept. 26 at Northridge High.