Erika Sayer and Lillian Edwards showed off their cohesion before setting foot on the volleyball court this season.

The duo arrived at Village High School on Aug. 2 for an interview and, after the chat, their coach, Shannon Baker, had a surprise for Sayer and Edwards before they departed.

Located inside the old Air Academy Federal Credit Union building near the Chapel Hills Mall, The Village houses more than 500 hybrid learners.

Though the days of banking at the location are long gone, Baker showed Sayer and Edwards that their hard work paid dividends.

“We get backpacks!” Sayer and Edwards both exclaimed in unison as Baker pulled out team gear bearing their school’s name.

Along with a slew of other players and adults at The Village, the senior pair played a significant role in developing prep sports at the school.

Boys basketball will begin this winter, but girls volleyball is ready to make a name for themselves this fall.

The storm

In August 2022, Sayer, Edwards, Olivia Plentl and Isabel Carew gathered at a table inside the Village with a plan.

At the time, The Village had no athletic programs and students played volleyball at Discovery Canyon, The Classical Academy, Lewis-Palmer, Palmer Ridge and elsewhere.

They wanted to change that.

Then-principal Nathan Gorsch said the girls “stormed my office” with the idea of starting a volleyball program.

Lindsay Keller, now principal at The Village, said kids wanted “something that belonged to them.”

“The girls went to Nathan and wanted to play their sport at their school,” Keller said. “This wasn’t an adult-driven decision, this was a student-driven decision. They love this place and feel connected and like each other a lot. They wanted to wear a jersey that said “Village.” This group of girls were the ones who helped with this decision.”

The process – mountains of paperwork, approval from the superintendent, obtaining program approval from CHSAA – was arduous, but Gorsch completed it, which gave the school a JV volleyball team last season.

Players hoped to field a varsity squad, but CHSAA only introduces new varsity programs every two years.

Village’s request to add varsity teams occurred in January 2023. This meant athletes and coaches had to wait another year.

“We had the excitement of last year thinking we were going to have a team and then we got let down by CHSAA saying we could only have a JV team,” Sayer said. “We’ve already been through the emotion of, ‘Hey, we’re going to have a team’ and then not having one was disappointing.”

Upsetting? Sure, but that allowed prep time for a future season.

Edwards helped Gorsch with jersey ideas while Baker coached junior varsity and pieced together practice and game locations.

And who the Mountaineers would play. No matter the distance.

Brick by brick

Though this is Baker’s first high school coaching job, she’s not new to managing talent.

For over a decade, Baker has coached the Colorado Juniors, a club volleyball team which shares its Monument facility with the Mountaineers.

In July 2023, Baker helped lead the Juniors to a USA Volleyball national championship in Chicago.

Baker also played volleyball at Doherty in the 2000s and helped the Spartans earn a 5A championship in 2003 and, as an assistant coach, aided the Spartans’ 26-0 state title run in 2012.

But creating a schedule? Baker called that “one of the more difficult things I had to do.”

“We went through some trials and tribulations trying to get into a league,” Baker said. “We couldn’t successfully do that which means we’ll be independent this year. That led us to calling every school in Colorado and asking them to put us on their schedule. Majority of the answers were that they were full. We struggled to put a schedule together, but we finally got 23 matches.”

While The Village won’t compete in a league until 2026 – which means no automatic playoff bid for at least two seasons – CHSAA designated them to 2A, where the Mountaineers hope for a playoff run.

Which presents another obstacle – CHSAA’s RPI.

RPI determines who makes the postseason and is based on a formula that includes: team win percentage, opponent’s win percentage and opponents’ opponents’ win percentage.

Yeah, it gets confusing.

Basically, even if the Mountaineers go undefeated, they’ll have to rely on their competition to thrive to boost The Village’s RPI and improve its playoff odds.

“We’re all just trying to figure out the ins and outs,” Baker said. “But I’m excited to coach and they’re excited to play.”

Especially that first home game, which will take place at Mountain Ridge Middle School. The Mountaineers’ vets know better than to overlook an opponent.

But Edwards smiled as she fielded a question about the Mountaineers’ contest Aug. 26.

Homecoming

The Village will host a mammoth, eh, a Titan, in its home opener.

The Mountaineers hope their first-ever home victory comes against The Classical Academy.

Edwards’ previous team.

A squad Edwards helped lead to a 24-5 record in 2023 – TCA’s highest win total since 2007 – and a team that fell 2 points shy of a semifinal berth in the 4A playoffs last year.

“I’m excited because I was so close with that whole team and I’m excited to put the two together and play each other,” Edwards said. “And I love [TCA coach Layne Witmer.] She’s part of the reason we’re playing TCA. I’m really excited to play against my friends and still be on the court with them.”

For Sayer, who played at Lewis-Palmer last season and is committed to play volleyball at Division-I Stanford next year, she said she’s eager to create a legacy for the Mountaineers.

The 6-foot-4 Sayer helped the Rangers reach the semifinals last season where Lewis-Palmer lost to state runners-up Thompson Valley.

Now, Sayer aims to push the Mountaineers to a historical season this year.

“I wanted to have a lot of pride playing for my school,” Sayer said. “I love what happens here and having the opportunity to showcase that through a sport is a cool opportunity. I wanted to take that and crush it.”

As Keller listened to the players’ answers, she recalled the inception of The Village, then Academy Online High School.

It began in 2008 as an online-only school and has blossomed into its current rendition of a hybrid learning facility that now boasts its own student-athletes who rep the school.

She witnessed The Village develop its athletics programs and Keller said this change – a student-led change – is what the school represents.

“I’m really excited for that first home game,” Keller said. “We have a lot of talent on our roster. It’s an honor for me because I’ve been a part of building The Village as a school from the beginning and now to be a part of witnessing athletics from the very beginning … I’m in a unique position of having a front row seat to that. But I’m not excited enough to get a tattoo.”

Mountaineers’ volleyball opponents’ 2023 record

Excludes future tournament opponents 

Sand Creek 8-15

TCA 24-5

Legend 23-7

Liberty 16-9

Manitou Springs 6-17

Falcon 13-12

D’Evelyn 12-13

Pueblo South 1-22

Liberty Common 22-7

Palisade 21-7

Grand Junction Central 10-13

Montrose 17-11

Total win-loss record: 173-138