The Bayfield High School and Ignacio High School volleyball seasons aren’t over yet as both teams finished inside the top 12 in their respective classes to host regionals.
Bayfield finished the regular season sixth in 3A in Colorado High School Activities Assocation’s (CHSAA) Selection & Seeding Index and will host the 3A Region 6 regional on Saturday. Ignacio finished 11th in 2A in CHSAA’s Selection & Seeding Index and will host the 2A Region 11 regional on Friday.
“It's a dream for our senior group,” Bayfield head coach Terene Foutz said. “They've grown up here in Bayfield watching other teams go for it and it's their time. They're pretty focused, they're working pretty hard and they're not taking any team or any seed for granted at all. That doesn't mean much to them.”
Bayfield finished the regular season 16-7 overall and 6-2 in the 3A Intermountain League. It’s the first time Bayfield has hosted a regional since 2021.
The Wolverines finished the regular season at the Colorado Invite in Colorado Springs on Friday. Bayfield went 2-2 in tournament play with losses to 5A Cherry Creek and Denver South and wins against 5A Doherty and 4A Air Academy.
Foutz said her team was ready to take the challenge to the bigger schools. Her team handled the 5A size they encountered well. Foutz was happy with how her hitters learned to take different angles against size. She’s happy her team was rewarded with playing better competition and Bayfield only dropped one spot in the 3A rankings despite the two losses.
Bayfield will host No. 19 Peak to Peak and No. 31 St. Mary’s Academy.
From Lafayette, Peak to Peak finished the regular season 13-10 overall and 5-5 in the 3A/2A Metro. The Pumas went 3-4 in October and didn’t have any common opponents with Bayfield this season. Sophomore Clara Wright, wearing No. 12, leads Peak to Peak with 266 kills; no other Puma has more than 100.
St. Mary’s Academy, based in Englewood, finished the regular season 10-12 overall and 3-7 in the 3A/2A Metro. The Wildcats lost four of their final six regular season games and lost at Peak to Peak, 3-1, on Sept. 25. St. Mary’s Academy has a more balanced offensive attack with senior Lillie Sheppard (No. 8) with 104 kills, senior Mia Perry (No. 9) with 98 kills and freshman Luna Sanchez (No. 14) with 97 kills.
Foutz knows that both opponents are private schools and have entirely different scheduling, making it tough to judge them.
Bayfield will start off against St. Mary’s Academy at 10 a.m. and then Peak to Peak will play St. Mary’s Academy after. The final game will be between Bayfield and Peak to Peak. Two wins will get Bayfield into the state tournament bracket.
Ignacio finished its regular season 19-4 overall and 11-1 in the 2A/1A San Juan Basin League. The Bobcats finished their regular season with a 3-2 win at Sargent on Oct. 30.
It’s the first time Ignacio has hosted since head coach Jennifer Seibel took over as coach in 2023. The Bobcats will host No. 14 Rye and No. 26 Hoehne on Friday.
“We have a pretty tough draw,” Seibel said. “The teams that are coming, they're both really good quality teams. So I'm really excited to battle. It's not going to be easy for us and I'm excited to have a really competitive couple of matches and see where things end up.”
Rye finished the regular season 17-6 overall and 7-1 in the 2A Santa Fe League. Ignacio and Rye had no common opponents and the Thunderbolts finished the regular season with five consecutive wins. Rye did sweep Hoehne twice in the regular season. Senior Isabella Bond (No. 1) leads Rye with 266 kills.
Hoehne finished the regular season 11-12 overall and 5-3 in the 2A Santa Fe League. The Farmers lost four of their five final matches, including one to Rye. Hoehne did have some common opponents with Ignacio. Both teams beat Del Norte, while Ignacio beat Sargent and Hoehne lost to Sargent. The Farmers are led by junior Braylee Foster’s (No. 15) 142 kills and Paisley SanRoman’s (No. 14) 128 kills.
On Friday, Ignacio will play Hoehne first at 10 a.m., followed by Rye vs. Hoehne and Ignacio vs. Rye. Two wins will get Ignacio into the state tournament bracket.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
