Over the past four years, the overall record for the Cottonwood Colts girls volleyball team is 15 wins and 55 losses. And yet there is a sense that the Colts may be well on their way to turning that frown upside down. 

“Capping off a big week of play with peach ice cream in Brigham City! Proud of the growth this week,” said Colts head coach Michaela Hatch, now in her fifth year at the program. 

This progress has been a long time coming for a Cottonwood program that four years ago only played 13 games in Hatch’s first season and lost all of them. 

But, the program has been patient and hasn’t skipped any steps. Today in the era of name, image and likeness, that is awfully rare. 

Coaches around Utah are being fired for the smallest discrepancies; in the classification in which Cottonwood plays, or Class 4A, there are 13 new head coaches this season, three in Region 10 where the Colts compete. 

A lot of that credit goes to former Cottonwood Athletic Director Gregg Southwick for believing in and sticking with Hatch when just about every AD in Utah would’ve second-guessed her modus operandi after two years or less. 

And so now, Hatch has Cottonwood (1-2 Region 10, 3-6) making noise. The Colts got a bit trampled early on, losing their first three games—two in straight set blowouts. 

But, at home against Kearns Aug. 26, the Colts nearly took the first set, losing 28-26. All that did was galvanize Cottonwood on Pajama Night, a trend that Hatch helped create to get more fans in the gym supporting her team. 

The Colts galloped in the next three sets at home to wallop Kearns by the final score of 26-28, 25-14, 25-18 and 25-15 to capture their first win since Oct. 8, 2024. 

On Beach Vibes Night Aug. 28, the Colts won the first set 25-21 but lost the second set at home versus Manti. And yet there were zero worries inside a gym where Cottonwood students and fans wore flowered shirts and attire that still set school standards. 

Cottonwood breezed past Manti to take victories in the third and fourth sets and grab their second straight win 25-21, 23-25, 25-21 and 25-16—the first time the Colts have won two straight since Sept. 4, 2024. 

With a chance to win their third in a row, the Colts opened Region 10 play Sept. 2 at Park City. Despite playing against a Miners team with a new head coach, Cottonwood was swept, 25-19, 25-22 and 25-17. 

Back at home against rival Murray Sept. 4, Cottonwood dropped the first set to the visiting Spartans. On Camo Night, Murray soon knew it was in a battle. The Colts took the next two sets, 25-16 and 25-10 and were on the verge of winning this rivalry game before the Spartans conquered the fourth set. 

In the tiebreaking fifth set, the Colts were outlasted by Murray in their first of two meetings, 21-25, 25-16, 25-10, 17-25 and 5-15. 

It was a tough way for Cottonwood to lose in front of such a raucous home crowd, but it sent a crystal clear message to the rest of Region 10 in Class 4A that the Colts would be tougher this year. 

Having expended most, it not all of their energy, the Colts played a nonregion game at Box Elder, were swept, and still were rewarded with ice cream by the coaches. 

Fully rested, Cottonwood traveled to Judge Memorial Sept. 9 for a region contest and thumped the Bulldogs 27-29, 25-16, 25-22 and 25-20. 

It marked the Colts’ third win on the season and yet it felt bigger than that for a program that has taken some lumps over the past four years.