Mustangs to head to Niwot for regionals
'Stangs are No. 34 seed, will meet the host Cougars; Denver's TJ also on site.
“The girls are very excited. It’s regionals,” Mullen volleyball coach Jeff Oliver said.
The Mustangs are heading into the Class 4A postseason on Friday, when they will meet host Niwot at 2 p.m. They will follow with a match against Denver’s Thomas Jefferson before Niwot and TJ meet.
One team will advance out of the pool and into the state tournament from Nov. 8-10 at the Denver Coliseum.
Niwot is seeded third and is 20-3, the third-best record in the class. TJ and Mullen both are 12-11, although the Spartans are No. 22 and the Mustangs No. 34.
Despite playing in the 5A-based Centennial League, Mullen didn’t really benefit from its schedule, although it didn’t help itself the past weekend in the Palmer Ridge tournament. The Mustangs went 1-3.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t do as well as we wanted,” Oliver said. “We had two matches that we lost by two points and it could have boosted us up, but that was kind of the downside.”
In addition, the injury-plagued Mustangs will be shorthanded again, missing front-liners Anna Murdy, Sophie Post, Henri Rasmussen and Morgan Wills.
“We have to adjust on the fly and that’s the way sports goes sometimes,” Oliver said. “We just have to find a way to win a couple of matches.”
Mustangs senior Makena Guthrie, who leads the team in assists (147), said “I think the whole team is excited. It’s one of those things where you’re a senior and regionals are here and you’re just glad your season isn’t over.
“We’re going up there to beat Niwot and come home as winner of our regional.”
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