Colorado Springs Christian’s return to Denver Coliseum last year satisfied most players.

After years of success in girls volleyball, including six consecutive 3A titles from 2004-09 and a runner-up trophy in 2018, the Lions had three consecutive losing seasons from 2020-2022.

They returned to prominence last season and finished 21-6, earning the No. 10 seed at state.

And, after taking a 2-0 set lead in their opening-round match with No. 7 seed Resurrection Christian, the Lions appeared ready for their first playoff win since 2019.

Then the next three sets happened.

“We got complacent and shocked ourselves when we went up 2-0,” Jordyn Rollins said. “For us to let up like that was heartbreaking. It was a stinger because we only needed one more set. But we’ve learned from that and from how much that stung.”

Resurrection Christian, the eventual 3A state champions, won the next three sets including a 15-1 fifth set.

“We talked about how getting to state last season was good enough for them,” coach Lori Currier said. “This year they want to push themselves as hard as they can to get as far as they can and not just feel complacent about getting there. Just getting there isn’t good enough this year. They want to make a run for it.”

That starts with regionals where the Lions, now in 2A, will host the Region 5 bracket after finishing 19-4 in the regular season.

CSCS will host No. 20 Fowler and No. 32 Lake County and face the Panthers at noon Saturday.

The Lions opened the year on a three-game winning streak until their rematch with Resurrection Christian gave the defending champs another five-set victory.

Although Colorado Springs Christian lost the game to the Cougars, this time alternating set wins with Resurrection Christian taking the final two, this felt different.

“If we played further out in the season it would be a different outcome,” Rollins said. “I think since that was at the beginning of the season we hadn’t meshed as a team.”

The Lions have four players with 120 kills or more this year with Abi Howard and Abigail Perry leading the charge.

Howard has a team-high 156 kills, but Perry is one shy of her fellow senior with 155 and leads the team in assists with 446, which is 15th in 2A.

“My team has helped me with that and our coaches have transformed us,” Perry said. “We can play different hitters in different positions and they all succeed very well. That helps us because it allows me to see them and know who works well in what positions and to give them different sets. Sometimes some things will work better than others: Where the blockers are on the other team, how big they are.

“My team has been doing so well this year and it’s made my job a lot easier.”

Howard reciprocated that appreciation for her setter and complimented Perry’s vision on the court and how it’s helped the Lions’ offense.

“We have an amazing setter, Abi Perry. We have our outside (hitter) Jordyn Rollins. We also have Rose Ross on the right side and then (Mattea Homan) in the middle with me,” Howard said. “… We’ve created seven different plays and have used those in games. We can switch up the offense so we don’t let the blocks get complacent and sit on us. That’s helped our team with diversity on offense.”

The Lions battled to win their region in 2023 and won the final two sets to beat Gunnison 3-2, their final five-set victory of the season.

Colorado Springs Christian realizes the move to 2A doesn’t mean its upcoming regional matchups will be easy.

The Lions will rely on their experiences last season and their success this year to return as a polished team to Denver Coliseum.

“This team is much more ready for it than we were last year,” Currier said. “We faced some tough teams again. … We faced Resurrection Christian again. We faced Valley. They’ve had our number the past few years, but we beat them. And we went to a great tournament in Sterling. A lot of that has helped with our mental toughness.”

Regional brackets

Regional champs advance to the state tournament, which begins Nov. 14 at Denver Coliseum.

5A

Region 5: At Fossil Ridge, 11 a.m. Nov. 9

No. 5 Fossil Ridge, No. 20 Rampart, No. 32 Rangeview

Region 6: At Pine Creek, 1 p.m. Nov. 9

No. 6 Pine Creek, No. 19 Douglas County, No. 31 heritage

4A

Region 2: At Lewis-Palmer, 10 a.m. Nov. 9

No. 2 Lewis-Palmer, No. 23 Fort Lupton, No. 35 Thomas Jefferson

Region 4: At Battle Mountain, 3 p.m. Nov. 11

No. 4 Battle Mountain, No. 21 Standley Lake, No. 33 Discovery Canyon

Region 6: At Cheyenne Mountain, 11 a.m. Nov. 10

No. 6 Cheyenne Mountain, No. 19 Glenwood Springs, No. 31 Air Academy

Region 8: At Lutheran, 3 p.m. Nov. 9

No. 8 Lutheran, No. 17 Falcon, No. 29 Berthoud

Region 9: At Windsor, 10 a.m. Nov. 9

No. 9 Windsor, No. 16 Cañon City, No. 28 Delta

Region 11: At Palmer Ridge, 4 p.m. Nov. 11

No. 11 Palmer Ridge, No. 14 Green Mountain, No. 26 Eagle Valley

3A

Region 3: At Mitchell, 1 p.m. Nov. 9

No. 3 Village, No. 22 Banning Lewis, No. 34 Pagosa Springs

Region 5: At Gunnison, 12:30 p.m. Nov. 9

No. 5 Gunnison, No. 20 Vanguard, No. 32 North Fork

Region 12: At Strasburg, 2 p.m. Nov. 9

No. 12 Strasburg, No. 13 The Classical Academy, No. 25 Prospect Ridge

2A

Region 1: At Simla, 4 p.m. Nov. 10

No. 1 Simla, No. 24 Ignacio, No. 36 St. Mary’s

Region 5: At Colorado Springs Christian, noon Nov. 9

No. 5 Colorado Springs Christian, No. 20 Fowler, No. 32 Lake County

Region 8: At Del Norte, 10 a.m. Nov. 9

No. 8 Del Norte, No. 17 Caprock Academy, No. 29 Fountain Valley

Region 11: At Heritage Christian, 3:30 p.m. Nov. 9

No. 11 Heritage Christian, No. 14 Vail Christian, No. 26 Calhan

1A

Region 9

No. 16 Evangel Christian Academy at No. 9 Hi-Plains, 2 p.m. Nov. 9

This article has been updated to show rescheduled days and times caused by weather delays.