Evergreen Team and Coach – 1981

They shared a dream … and they were the first “baker’s dozen” to share a coveted “Sportswoman of the Year” Award. How the Evergreen volleyball team and Coach Lo Hunter got from Point A to Point B was high sports drama in 1981.

The Cougars started the season with 76 straight victories and thought the record they were chasing was 82 consecutive matches won by Sweet Home Central High School in Buffalo, N.Y. Further research, however, showed that Holy Rosary of Flint, Michigan had won 92 matches in a row from 1974 through 1977.

Undaunted, Coach Hunter focused her team on winning the league and subsequently the state meet, hoping the record would then belong to Evergreen. Her Cougars responded, annexing their fourth consecutive Colorado state title and finishing the season with 102 straight wins! The presumed record, one of Colorado’s Top 10 sports stories for 1981, was celebrated by the coach and

Kim Dukes … April Lindsley … Sherri Danielson … Heidi Dexter… Kari Lee … Sarah Ewy … Karin Moore … Cathy Brett …Tracy Wahl…Stephanie Lindsley … Jennifer Petry … and Tina Tedeschi

Meanwhile, Sweet Home had increased its unbeaten streak to 111, and that was the total officially recognized by the National Federation of State High School Associations in July, 1982. Again, the long-sought mark held the Cougars at bay!

It wasn’t easy to push on, especially after losing several seniors to graduation, but Coach Hunter would not be denied. Pursuing and capturing a fifth straight state title, her regrouped forces completed the 1982 season with 126 consecutive victories!

(Ultimately, the Cougars’ state string would be eight straight titles with seven undefeated seasons, and Hunter would be in the Colorado High School Activities Association and Sportswomen Halls of Fame with a career volleyball record of 503-82.)