By Jack Etkin

Another bittersweet volleyball season ended for the Denver Waldorf School Spartans, a glittering 18-3 record and district championship concluding with the latest unsuccessful attempt to reach the state tournament this weekend at the Denver Coliseum.

After winning their third consecutive District 8 title, the Spartans participated in a four-team regional tournament Saturday but were not one of two teams to advance the 1A state tournament.

"Some of these girls, especially the seniors, they've come here every year, and I know it's disappointing for them every year," said Waldorf coach Ashely Martinez at Saturday's regional tournament at Horizon High School. "They work hard all year long. They are good enough to make it to state. They really deserve to, and I really wish that we could get past this obstacle and give it to them."

The obstacle is the regional tournament where the competition is better than the Spartans face in the 5280 League, which they have dominated. Martinez, who has coached the Spartans six seasons, said in her first year, "We lost to a lot of teams that we don't even think about (losing to) now."

All of which is rather amazing considering Waldorf, located at 940 Fillmore Street, has no gym and a small high school enrollment. A total of 330 students attend Waldorf, including 55 in the high school, just over half of whom are girls. The Spartans play their home games and practice at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, renting the gym there for $50 an hour with a two-hour minimum.

There are plans for a gym at Waldorf, but nothing is imminent. Such a facility would enable Waldorf "to host tournaments and be able to invite bigger teams," said Waldorf athletic director and assistant volleyball coach Michael Quinn. "Bigger teams would be more apt to play in a tournament that has some other big teams. And that's a way we can get some more of that better competition."

The Spartans won the District 8 tournament this year by beating league rival Community Christian. In the fifth and deciding game of that match, the Spartans trailed 9-1 but won 17-15. The Spartans again had another even match against Community Christian in the regional tournament, winning 26-24, 21-25, 25-18, 23-25 and 15-5.

But unfortunately, the Spartans began regional play against Weldon Valley, a beatable opponent, and lost 15-25, 13-25 and 17-25. A win over Weldon Valley might have put the Spartans in the state tournament, but instead Weldon Valley qualified along with defending 1A champion and perennial power Fleming, which beat Waldorf 25-7, 25-12 and 25-16.

Losing only two seniors, the Spartans should again be good next year. And Waldorf's flourishing middle school and junior varsity programs continue feeding players to the Spartans' varsity, which in 2010 will renew the quest to reach the state tournament.

"I really feel like that we're at the verge of making that jump to the next level," Quinn said, "and once we do, everything will be easier. But when you can't get past that hurdle, it's frustrating for everybody."

"But for dealing what we deal with as far as having basically 20-some girls to choose from, we're proud of what we've done. We're happy with the success that we do have, and you can't take that stuff for granted. Just keep working to try to get to that next level. That's all you can do," Quinn said.