DENVER — Five years after winning their last state volleyball championship, the Eaton Reds ended their title drought Saturday at the Denver Coliseum.
The No. 3 seed Reds won their 11th volleyball championship and first since 2020, defeating top seed Alamosa in the Class 3A final, 26-24, 25-17, 23-25, 27-25.
The championship victory came after the Reds fended off Patriot League rival Resurrection Christian in a four-set semifinal victory earlier Saturday.
“We’ve got 10 seniors, so for them, this was special,” second-year Eaton head coach Matt Meagher said. “They’ve worked so hard all year to do it. The culture that they’ve created has been absolutely amazing. They did this. We gave them the pieces. We gave them the tools. They believe in each other so much that they were able to come out and do this. It’s been amazing.”
In the first set of the championship match, the teams battled to the wire. Tied at 24, the Reds scored the final two points to take a 1-0 lead.
Eaton was more dominant in the second set, maintaining control on its way to an eight-point victory.
The Mean Moose, however, didn’t go down without a fight and battled from behind to tie the third set at 23-23 and then score the final two points to force a fourth set.
In the final set, the Mean Moose still wouldn’t go away. Eaton took a 24-22 lead, but Alamosa tied it at 24 and then again at 25 before the Reds got the final two points and were able to celebrate.
“We just kind of settled in and said if we don’t quit and take care of our side, we can do this,” senior Madi Smith said. “We knew it was going to be a hard match. Alamosa is a great team, but we knew we had the capabilities to overcome them.”
Despite losing its last three matches at the prestigious Colorado Invite tournament to close out the regular season, Eaton swept its home regional and didn’t lose a match at the state tournament, defeating No. 6 Bayfield, No. 7 The Classical Academy, No. 2 Resurrection Christian and No. 1 Alamosa all in four sets.
Not only was Saturday’s championship the 11th for Eaton volleyball, but it was also the school’s 51st championship.
“It means everything,” Smith said. “We wanted this so bad for so long, and with so many seniors on the roster, we knew we had the maturity to pull it home for our town. It’s the culture. The amount of people that show up for us, it means the world, and we know we can do it with them by our side.”
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