Durango said it was ready for a rematch with Bayfield. The Demons proved it Tuesday night.
After falling 3-0 to the Bayfield High School volleyball team at home Sept. 27, Durango High was ready to spoil the Wolverines’ senior night in Bayfield.
But, after taking a 2-1 lead, the Demons couldn’t close out the Wolverines and fell 15-11 in a decisive fifth set to lose 3-2.
“Defense won the day for Bayfield,” BHS head coach Terene Foutz said. “It was a huge block night, as we had 17 as a team.”
For the Wolverines, the win kept them undefeated at home at 8-0. BHS is now 16-3 overall after going a perfect 10-0 in Intermountain League play to win the league championship.
The Demons fell to 9-10 overall after going 4-4 in 4A/5A Southwestern League play. Durango will await the announcement of regional brackets next weekend to see if their season will continue.
The fifth set was tied five times before Bayfield took the lead for good at 11-10. Maddi Foutz made an improbable dig on a full-extension dive. She managed to get the ball over the net, and two Durango players on the back line were unsure of whether or not to play the ball thinking it might go long. But the ball fell on the end line, giving BHS a 10-7 lead at the time and leading to a Durango timeout as the Bayfield crowd erupted. Jade Pascale ended the match with a no-nonsense kill for the Wolverines.
“It was electric,” coach Foutz said of her daughter’s dig. “It was a senior play on senior night. She made several digs where she seemingly came out of nowhere and launched herself to get them. But, honestly, everyone had to step up like that every point.”
BHS got out to a quick start, winning the first set 25-13, as a tandem block by Kylee McCoy and Taylor Morris closed out the game. McCoy and Ashley Mottin were a force at the neck all night, and coach Foutz said they slowed Durango just enough to make a difference.”
The Wolverines went up 3-0 quickly in the second set, but Durango claimed a lead at 7-6 and commanded play after going up 21-17 on a big kill from Lana Razma. When a Pascale hit went long, the Demons had tied the match.
Game 3 was back-and-forth, but the Demons took command with a 20-16 lead, as Ally Snow came through with a big kill that forced a Bayfield timeout. A Pascale hit was blocked by Celia Hale and Josie Surmeier to give the Demons the game and a 2-1 lead.
But Bayfield didn’t go away in the fourth and took a win to force the decisive fifth set.
Maddi Foutz had 14 kills and 26 digs, while Pascale had 13 kills. Courtney Bayles had 34 assists. Emily Bauer also added 34 digs.
The Wolverines will hit the road this weekend to play in the Palmer Ridge tournament in Colorado Springs. The Wolverines will look to bolster their RPI before regional playoff brackets are announced next weekend. BHS is currently No. 2 in the Class 3A RPI standings behind only consensus No. 1 Eaton. In the CHSAANow.com poll, the Wolverines are ranked fourth.
Durango is not ranked in the 4A poll and is No. 20 in the RPI standings.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
