Cheyenne Mountain made sure to spread around the kills.

Lewis-Palmer failed to defend and made plenty of mistakes.

That combination led to Cheyenne Mountain stunning the back-to-back Class 4A state volleyball champions and claiming the Pikes Peak Athletic Conference title, knocking off L-P 25-23, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23 on Thursday night at a raucous Cheyenne Mountain gym.

Four players had at least eight kills for the Indians, led by Bethany Cullity’s game-high 19, helping snap the Rangers’ win streak of 49 consecutive victories over teams from Colorado.

“We were very confident,” Cullity said. “We knew that if we came out strong we could do whatever we want.”

Cullity’s final kill came screaming down the line, as so many had all night. That set up the Pikes Peak region 4A No. 2 Indians (16-1, 7-0 PPAC) with set point. An ace later and the Indians were lifting the PPAC trophy.

Casey Ahrendsen (12 kills), Ellie Gubser (9) and Elizabeth Wayne (8) joined Cullity in the kills parade.

Lewis-Palmer, No. 1 throughout the season in the 4A region rankings, hadn’t lost a match in Colorado since 2013. The Rangers (19-3, 6-1) went 29-0 in 2014, claiming their second consecutive crown. Their only two losses this season came in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Arizona.

They had lost just one set in Colorado this season. That changed quickly Thursday.

The Indians grabbed a 19-18 lead in the first set and held on the rest of the way, winning the set on one of many L-P errors.

“It’s not frustrating at all, it’s really actually humbling,” Rangers outside hitter Nicole Mack said of losing the league title. “We know what we need to work on now, and we’re going to bust our rear end to get better.”

Mack finished with a team-high 14 kills. Michaela Putnicki added 12.

The Indians looked even stronger in the second set, jumping out to a 14-11 lead on back-to-back kills from Cullity. L-P never got closer than two points the rest of the set.

The Rangers’ last loss in Colorado came at the hands of the Indians in the 2013 Cheyenne Mountain Tournament. But even that year saw the PPAC trophy go L-P.

“What hurt us in those first two sets is we had a lot of unforced errors, especially in that first set we had a lot of missed serves, we had a lot of hitting errors,” L-P coach Susan Odenbaugh said, adding that the Rangers weren’t executing their blocking. “You can’t give good teams points.”

Cullity said the Indians entered the game with plenty of confidence. It never waned, even when L-P rallied from a 21-13 deficit in the third set to win 25-23 and force a fourth.

But the Indians avoided another letdown, holding on after L-P had tied the set at 23. Then came Cullity’s kill, the service ace and the league trophy.

With the postseason a couple weeks away, the Indians are expecting another meeting with the Rangers.

“They’re still the champions,” Indians coach David Barkley said. “We have to go try and get it from them.”