Thomas Jefferson loses regional championship match, and kisses its state opportunity goodbye.
The Lady Spartans put up a good fight at regionals. Photo by Clayton Bridges
The Regional Tournament for TJ was held on November 3rd at Thomas Jefferson High School. Thomas Jefferson was sent to play Falcon (who they recently beat back in September) and Mountain View High School.
The first match of the day was TJ verses Falcon. As the game started off, TJ came out strong and gained a lead of 13-9. Although Falcon won the first set, TJ came back with no mercy and beat the Falcons pretty heavily. After the TJ beat down, the Falcons faced a devastating loss of 3-1, which jeopardized their chances of making it to State.
After both Thomas Jefferson and Mountain View beat Falcon, they both advance to the Regional Championship match. As the game starts off, TJ and Mountain View maintain a tight point differential of 2 points, until the Mountain Lions gained momentum to take the lead of 17-12. TJ proved they have a lot of heart, as they come back to win in overtime 27-25. In the second set, Mountain View stepped up their game and won 25-21. In the third set, TJ falls behind again, and was losing 17-12. But the Spartans decides to not give up and come back to win 26-24. During the fourth game, the Mountain Lions played hard to win 25-22. As the last and most important game starts off, Mountain View immediately gained a lead of 4-0. But the Spartans fought all the way til the end, bringing the game into over-time with TJ up 18-17. But the Spartans just couldn’t get that last point needed to go to State, and they lose 20-18.
The unexpected loss with Mountain View ended the Spartans outstanding season one week early cheating them out of State. Although TJ had plans to advance, they were still proud of their accomplishments. They proved to be a force to be reckoned with winning 1st in DPS league, beating Regis Jesuit, taking first at the Palmer Tournament, winning Summer League, and being named top 10 in state for 4A. This was the first time in 20 years a 4A DPS team has made it to Regionals, and a first to host Regionals. “Our volleyball team represented not only Thomas Jefferson, but all DPS schools as a whole. Having such a great season put us on the map as far as strong young players in the district, and I think we have the pieces necessary to be the first DPS school to make it to the State Tournament in over 15 years,” said Athletic Director Andrew Skari.
