IHS grad amongst v-ball stars vying in Pueblo
Marissa Olguin admitted she may have been a little out of her element.
Relied upon to be more of a defensive player rather than an essential attack option, as she typically was during her Ignacio Volleyball career, but realizing that was just the nature of being a Colorado High School Coaches Association All-State Games selection, she went about her business and probably surprised even herself.
“I did not expect to be put in the back. I mean, kind of a little bit because I’m not tall, but I didn’t think I’d be playing back row at all,” she said, following the Games’ third-place match Friday afternoon, June 13. “And I was a little nervous at first, because I didn’t ever play back-row in the season and these girls just kill it.”
But whereas filling a defensive-specialist role may have been like breaking in new shoes, stepping behind the service line was old hat to the graduated IHS senior – and a big reason why she and the Blue team took a 2-sets-to-1 lead inside CSU-Pueblo’s Massari Arena against White.
Having been given her first chance to serve during Set 2, and having justified Fort Lupton coaches – and designated Games mentors – Cindy and Tylynn Seiler’s confidence by holding serve for four key points expanding Blue’s lead from 8-7 to 12-7 (White then used a timeout but, despite regaining the serve, never regained the upper hand), Olguin would have been a top choice to ice Set 3.
And sure enough, after Brighton’s Brooke Logue pounded a shot off the block of Briggsdale’s Kayl Klem, putting Blue up 21-19 late in the third, Olguin trotted back to the service line and didn’t leave until Blue had secured a 25-19 win backing up a 25-18 triumph in the preceding set.
“We had a lot of mistakes, but we got through them. They were really easy mistakes too,” said Olguin, whose ultimate highlight was likely her clean sideline ace clowning Elizabeth’s Raegan Erickson barely five feet from White’s bench and coaches Paula Loucks (Fort Collins Heritage Christian Academy) and Melissa Steinbrunn (McClave).
“Picked us up when we needed it most,” Logue said. “(The coaches Seiler) just told us to come together as a team, rely on each other because that’s what it’s all about – the community and love for the sport. From not … playing in a long time, honestly, it was so much fun. Made me realize how much I love volleyball.”
White, however, wasted little time beginning a comeback, with the hard-hitting Klem acing, ironically, Olguin to start Set 4. Helped by a short Logue service stand, Blue regained a 4-2 advantage as the set began see-sawing out to 9-9. An ace by Collbran Plateau Valley’s Emaline Ealey put Blue up 10-9, and strong net play by Highlands Ranch Rock Canyon’s Alivia Eikenberg helped the lead grow to 15-11 before White responded with a tide-turning 11-1 run.
Blue managed to rally back to 23-20, but White would win 25-20 with an Erickson ace forcing a tiebreaking fifth set.
Logue, however, won the subsequent coin toss and, sensing solid serving could still sway things her side’s way, elected to serve first. Leading by example, Logue then served Blue out to a shining 5-0 start to which White’s only counter was a timeout … which worked an unbelievable treat.
Alamosa’s Taybor Wiedeman got White on the scoreboard by blocking Eikenberg, and though Klem then netted her serve, White continued working and, despite a Blue timeout, pulled even at 6-all. Wiedeman then aced a well-positioned Olguin, and White’s lead grew to 10-6 before Ealey crushed a kill stopping White’s 9-0 burst.
Back-to-back Ealey tip shots eventually brought Blue back to 11-10, but an Erickson kill, a netted Blue tip try and an Erickson ace put White on match point, and Klem would then put away a tip – securing White a 25-16, 18-25, 19-25, 25-20, 15-10 victory – while multiple Blue players nearest the net were scrambling back onto their feet after desperately preventing White’s prior attack from landing.
Having lost to Black in the previous night’s second semifinal, Blue finished in fourth place.
“But these girls were amazing,” declared Logue, a CSU-Pueblo commit playing upon her future home court. “They’re all just a bundle of joy out on the court, super-supportive. Helped me, honestly, just to never forget … why the little girl in me fell in love with this in the first place – when I was ten years old, when I switched over from gymnastics.”
“We got here yesterday, didn’t have much time to practice – or to get to know each other – but we came together as a team really well,” said Olguin, at the time unsure of her post-Ignacio future. “So I was thankful to be here; it means a lot.”
In the Games’ subsequent first-place match, Red – with graduated Dove Creek senior Taylor Barry in uniform – followed up their semifinal win over White with a 25-16, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19 conquest of Black.