After an impressive 3-1 victory over Aspen in the first round of the 3A state volleyball championships and a hard fought 3-1 loss against Eaton in the second round, Bayfield High School volleyball ran out of gas in its consolation match against Stargate School on Friday.
No. 6 seed Bayfield finished its season 19-9 overall after its three games inside Denver Coliseum. The Wolverines beat No. 11 Aspen, 25-9, 22-25, 25-18, 25-20, before losing to No. 3 Eaton, 16-25, 17-25, 25-21, 12-25 and No. 5 Stargate School, 19-25, 25-20, 19-25, 19-25.
Back-to-back kills by Bayfield senior Grace Barber early in Set 1 against Stargate put the Wolverines’ strength on display and re-tied the score at 6-all, but after Stargate regained a 9-8 edge, a kill by sophomore Elizabeth Romary plus her subsequent scoring block of Bailey’s attempted back-row kill helped the Eagles go up 14-9. Bayfield head coach Terene Foutz used a timeout, but the Metro League champ refused to let the Intermountain runner-up come closer than two points the rest of the way before BHS senior Avery Shipman double-touched a pass into the net on set point.
The Eagles’ 5-0 run then carried into Set 2, but after falling behind 2-0 and later 5-2, the Wolverines came alive with their own 5-0 burst. Stargate, however, struck back with a 6-0 run on junior Autumn Kasten’s serve and rebuilt their lead to 11-7. Foutz spent a timeout, but Bayfield continued losing ground incrementally, despite two promising Evelette Hollibaugh kills and one from freshman Londyn Hollibaugh.
A third Evelette Hollibaugh kill, however, brought BHS back to 17-13 and, sensing the senior had truly found her swing, Stargate burned a timeout. Hollibaugh’s spike sparked a 10-1 run not even Stargate head coach Sydney Apodaca’s second allotted timeout could reverse.
Hard-hitting sophomore Chloe Pan brought the Eagles back to 22-20 with a tip, but Barber then blocked her next swing, sophomore Kieley White Thunder banged a kill off Pan’s block to bring up set point, and then tipped a senior Lauren Rich bump-set over two Stargate players to level the match.
“We just had to get it together,” said White Thunder. “I feel like we could have beaten them again, but we just fell short.”
Stargate quickly gained the upper hand in Sets 3 and 4, but Bayfield, erasing deficits of 4-1 in Set 3 and 6-3 in Set 4, rallied back both times as the contest became a true back-and-forth fight for survival. Evelette Hollibaugh hammered a kill off White to put BHS up 18-17 in Set 3, but Barber then hit out of bounds and Stargate followed that with three more points and soon went up 24-19 when a Pan serve was returned into the net.
The Eagles then blocked a Barber bash and the deflection went directly to White, who put a three-quarter swing on the ball for the clinching kill while the Wolverines were reforming and preparing to defend.
Shipman fired an ace giving Bayfield a 7-6 lead in Set 4, but Stargate’s resolve became crystal-clear when Romary rejected a White Thunder blast and re-tied the score at 10-all. BHS junior Vivien Clance later crushed a cross-court kill knotting the score at 15-15, but Pan did likewise seconds later, then cleverly tipped over BHS’ block for a 17-16 advantage the Eagles wouldn’t again lose.
Foutz used her final timeout after a Romary overpass kill put Stargate up 23-19, and an exhausted Evelette Hollibaugh then netted an attack. White went back to the service line once more – with the Eagles’ season potentially in her hands.
“We did battle, no question. They were competitive and they belonged here, and I’m proud of my girls for getting to this stage,” Foutz said. “The seniors are a little disappointed and, obviously, we wanted to win and work our way back into the semifinals, but we did a good job this weekend. I’m pleased with their performance.”
Stargate (24-3 overall), meanwhile, advanced to face Loveland Resurrection Christian in the evening’s scheduled 6:30 p.m. contest and lost, 3-0.
On Thursday, Bayfield started its state run on a high note by defeating Aspen.
The Wolverines stopped the Skiers in four sets, but after a Set 2 stumble had to do considerably more work than in Set 1, when BHS blasted out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back, perhaps even already envisioning a showdown later in the evening with Patriot League-power Eaton.
Evelette Hollibaugh began the slated 11 a.m. match bashing two kills, and Londyn Hollibaugh followed with a kill off a quick set by senior Avery Shipman. Holding serve, Clance then curved a wicked ace away from AHS junior Autumn Sherwin, and Evelette Hollibaugh followed with two more put-aways, forcing Aspen head coach David Chadbourne into burning a timeout.
But Bayfield only turned up the heat; a four-point stay on serve by senior Maeli Quintana (including two Evelette Hollibaugh kills and a Quintana ace of Sherwin) increased BHS’ lead to 13-1, and Chadbourne spent his second allotted timeout after seeing the deficit grow to 17-3. Neither shaken nor stirred, Terene Foutz’s crew coolly reached set point, 24-9, via a Londyn Hollibaugh finish assisted by Shipman, and went up 1-0 in the match when Aspen junior Belle Sinclair successfully tipped a ball over Evelette Hollibaugh’s block but out of bounds.
Sinclair started Set 2 by netting her serve, and BHS quickly went up 5-1 thanks in part to aces by Quintana and Rich. But the Skiers built up some crucial confidence by promptly tying at 6-all before the action began seesawing – and more in Aspen’s favor. AHS eventually went up 12-10, but BHS continued battling and went up 18-15 before Aspen again upped the ante and pressed for a 22-20 lead via a Sinclair ace of White Thunder.
Foutz used a timeout and White Thunder promptly downed a kill after the restart, but AHS junior Brooke Jewell countered with a kill and junior Andrea Lee blocked Londyn Hollibaugh to bring up set point, 24-21. After Sherwin netted her serve, Jewell evened the match at a set apiece with a kill off Shipman’s block.
Hoping to capitalize on their newfound momentum, the Skiers quickly went up 3-1 in Set 3, but the awakened Wolverines answered with six unanswered points – including Barber’s stuff of an AHS overpass, tying the set at 3-3 – in gaining a lead they’d not lose.
An ace by senior Lily Muir increased BHS’ lead to 11-7, and Chadbourne used a timeout. And after play resumed Aspen crept back to 12-11 via a Sinclair ace, but Evelette Hollibaugh immediately countered with a kill and Chadbourne swiftly spent his second timeout just two points later after Quintana aced Sherwin.
Foutz used her first timeout of the session after a Sinclair kill brought Aspen back to 20-18, and a recharged White Thunder then downed a cross-court kill. Sinclair then hit wide of the far sideline, and moments later White Thunder muscled a kill through Sherwin’s block to bring up set point, 24-18. Londyn Hollibaugh then scored with a tip shot to the deep near corner off junior Oleana Hill, which junior libero Elena Creamer couldn’t reach.
White Thunder began Set 4 netting an attack after Sinclair opened on serve, but Bayfield gained the upper hand at 3-2 and never let go
Chadbourne called his second – and last – timeout with Aspen down 18-12, but the Wolverines would reach match point, 24-19. Evelette Hollibaugh terminated a perfect Shipman backset to polish off the 25-9, 22-25, 25-18, 25-20 victory.
“This year was an incredible opportunity for all of us,” said Clance. “We know what we’re capable of and we’re going to keep getting better.”
