The Cottonwood Colts girls volleyball team sure served up a platter of hope to kickstart October. 

As staff urged fans to “show your patriotism!” at ‘Merica Night at the Oct. 2 match between the Colts and Judge Memorial Catholic and all settled in for a Region 10 showdown, you had a sequel between a team that’s been in the league for years and a newbie.  

Cottonwood dropped the first set, one day after getting swept in three straight sets at Bountiful. 

Would the Colts bounce back against Judge, having lost the first set? 

Cottonwood (7-21, 5-9 Region 10) would, but only just. The Colts would win the second set 25-23 in front of a raucous house at home, and then took their second consecutive set with even more ease, 25-18. Judge battled back, but it wasn’t enough and Cottonwood prevailed, 11-25, 25-23, 25-18 and 25-21. 

That completed a two-match sweep for the Colts that lost in three straight sets Oct. 7 at Juan Diego Catholic to make their lives more difficult. 

The loss at Juan Diego set the stage for a frenetic finish, in which Cottonwood needed a minimum six points over its final three games of region play and one nonleague game to stay in the state tournament chase. 

It looked like the Colts might be on their way to a huge win at home against Jordan in Region 10 action. 

On Superhero & Staff Appreciation Night Oct. 9, the Colts played like some of the Powerpuff Girls in the first set, winning it 25-21. But Cottonwood lost some of its magical powers in the second set, dropping it 25-15, and then Jordan went on to hand the Colts a tough loss at home in the last two sets, 21-25, 25-15, 25-21 and 25-19. 

That put the Colts in a tough spot on Senior Night Oct. 10 against the East Leopards. In a must-win situation in front of some people dressed to the nines as requested, Cottonwood played like it had been shot out of a cannon, thrashing East in three straight sets, 25-12, 25-16 and 25-19. 

But after two losses in a row at Lehi and Highland, Cottonwood’s coaching staff and players could only watch the 4A state tournament pairings and hope. 

It was not to be. But, a 7-21 record improved upon last year’s record by one win. 

After Cottonwood lost two of its first eight matches, you had to wonder if the Colts were headed down the same road as last year. 

But when people close to the program said that this team was improving, and that games were no longer as lopsided, you had to check the scores for yourself. 

Three sets to one in their losses—and the same was true in their early wins. 

Under head coach Michaela Hatch, who was in her fourth full season in charge of Cottonwood, she battened down the hatches, so to speak. 

No player information was being shared about her team, and no statistics were available, same as the football team. 

The marketing was still getting out, though, and so were the theme nights—one of Cottonwood’s biggest highlights of the week. Disco Night, Country Night, and the uber-popular Beach Night were all back. 

What else? The fan interest in girls volleyball was beginning to pay off, as was coach Hatch’s insistence several years ago on bringing her players through the ranks of each of Cottonwood’s teams, slowly.

Save for a 3-0 loss to Olympus and a welcome to another revamped Region 10 by old league nemesis Park City, the Colts were competing in every match. 

West got the dub by the skin of their Panther chin by winning the first set 31-29 in a marathon, then surviving the next three sets to win. That season-opening slugfest kind of deflated the Colts spirit and energy in the next two games, both decisive losses. 

After losing the first set in a 28-26 street fight to Kearns Aug. 26, Cottonwood rebounded with a vengeance, refusing to allow its 5A opponent to even break 18 points in each of the next three sets, as the Colts rolled to their first victory. 

That was the story of a memorable season for Cottonwood, who loses five seniors (Cora Young, Hallie Jensen, Brynley Anderson, Kaila Cruz and Eimi Vatuvei) to graduation.