By Greg Perkins Each of the final four teams left in the 3A state volleyball tournament had very solid resumes. Thatcher, who made the jump up from 2A to 3A this year and was the fourth seed, sported the worst record of the four and they had just three losses on the season. No. 3 Valley Christian’s only two losses were to top seeded Northwest Christian, and No. 2 seeded Snowflake had just one loss, also to the top ranked Crusaders. The first semi-final match-up between No. 1 Northwest Christian and No. 4 Thatcher went as expected with the Crusaders rolling in three games. Snowflake’s battle with the No. 3 seeded Valley Christian Trojans also ended in three straight games, but they were three extremely competitive games. Valley Christian won the first game 25-23, then had to go extra to win the second game 26-24. Game three was also close with the Lady Lobos seeing their season come to a close with a 25-22 game three loss. As good as Snowflake and Valley Christian were, it may not have mattered which team would have faced Northwest Christian in the final. The Crusaders, who have several players headed to Division I scholarships, blew past Valley Christian in three straight games to win their third consecutive state championship. Snowflake ends their very impressive season under first year head Coach Karen Hargrove with an overall record of 17-2 in the COVID shortened season. Their only two losses were to the two teams who ended up playing for the state title. Like most good teams the Lobos will have to replace seniors, including the East Region Player of the Year Reagan Olson, along with Maci Penrod, Ellie Lundberg, Anna Berger, Marynda Caldwell and Carmen Whitney for what will hopefully be a more normal 2021 season.
