CORTEZ – Having won two of four matches in Monument at the ever-intense Lewis-Palmer Invitational just a couple days earlier, the Bayfield Wolverines proceeded to take three of four sets Tuesday night and survive their 3A Intermountain League opener away.
Resisting what was, essentially, a 14-3 Montezuma-Cortez run, capping the Panthers’ Set 3 win and initially positioning them to bid for Set 4, BHS beat back one last M-CHS comeback and outscored the home team 12-5 down the stretch to clinch a 25-23, 25-20, 22-25, 25-18 road victory.
Bayfield improved to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the IML. M-CHS fell to 6-5 overall and 0-1 in the IML.
The Panthers regained a 14-13 lead in Set 4 when M-CHS senior libero Keeley Clarke accidentally netted an attempted back-row kill. Bayfield followed with senior Grace Barber blocking M-CHS senior Siana Elliott, then blasting a quick set from senior Avery Shipman straight through the Panthers’ middle and then scoring with a tip shot into Montezuma-Cortez’s softened center.
Clarke would counter with back-to-back service aces bringing M-CHS back to 18-17, but after Barber and M-CHS junior TessaMercedes Jackson traded kills, the Wolverines sealed the deal with a 6-0 run – and Barber holding serve for the final five points.
Montezuma-Cortez head coach Danielle Waltman used her second and last Set 4 timeout after Barber split Clarke and senior Sarah Sparks with a perfect back-row ace, then landed another too low for junior Anna Tewell to field. But after the restart, BHS freshman Londyn Hollibaugh stuffed down a M-CHS over-pass, and sophomore Kieley White Thunder successfully tipped an unplanned set by senior Evelette Hollibaugh to bring up match point at 24-18.
Fully zoned in from the service line, Barber then smacked a serve which Sparks managed to receive, but which packed enough power to rocket back over the net to a waiting White Thunder for a no-doubt over-pass kill – allowing the Wolverines to at last begin thinking about hosting defending IML champion Alamosa (7-1, 1-0 IML) on Thursday.
The Panthers were prepared to make Bayfield work and set the tone early, forcing a 15-15 deadlock in Set 1 before BHS broke loose with a six-point burst with Evelette Hollibaugh serving. Errors, however, allowed M-CHS to battle back to 23-21, and Tewell tooled a kill off the younger Hollibaugh’s block to chop the guests’ lead down to a point.
BHS junior Vivien Clance answered with a block-cracking kill, but then netted her own serve – giving Montezuma-Cortez another chance to perhaps swipe the set. Evelette Hollibaugh, however, ensured that wouldn’t happen by drilling a cross-court kill toward the far opposite corner.
Bayfield then gained a 4-3 lead early in Set 2, and had the upper hand the rest of the way, despite M-CHS coming as close as 10-9. Set point came up at 24-18 after Sparks netted a serve, but consecutive Jackson put-aways off Shipman and Barber kept the Panthers alive until, after Jackson prolonged another exchange with a stellar dig, Barber hammered a kill.
Still, Montezuma-Cortez looked to make the Wolverines’ night as long as possible and gradually eroded BHS’ 10-3 lead in Set 3 all the way down to 22-21 via a Jackson smash. Clarke then tied the score, for the first time in the set, with an ace electrifying M-CHS’ fans, and moments later found herself serving at set point, 24-22, thanks to a Jackson tip over a Shipman/Barber block.
One last Clarke serve did enough to nudge the Lady Wolverines out of system just enough, and Evelette Hollibaugh’s attempt to revive Bayfield with a kill sailed long and out of bounds – meaning that the cagey Lady Panthers, at the very least, would avoid being swept off their home court.
After hosting Alamosa, Bayfield will next head to Pagosa Springs on Tuesday to continue IML work. Montezuma-Cortez, meanwhile, will host PSHS on Saturday, then entertain 2A Mancos on Tuesday.
