BAYFIELD – The sun hadn’t fully set by the time the Bayfield High School volleyball team wrapped up its sweep of Aztec.
That’s impressive given the match’s 6:30 p.m. start time.
BHS (8-2) beat the Tigers 25-10, 25-15, 25-15 on Thursday in Bayfield to extend its winning streak to five matches.
Aztec (5-3) only managed to hold serve for multiple points eight times in the three sets and never led.
“Clean was the word of the evening,” BHS head coach Terene Foutz said. “It’s something we talked about the entire match.”
That’s not the easiest buzzword to follow when your opponent is playing sloppy volleyball, though.
The Wolverines committed 21 errors in the game attacking and serving and admitted the challenge of staying focused at times in a game like that.
“It takes a lot more focus. If the other team’s making mistakes, you have to be five times more on your game, because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” said BHS setter Suzie Rhodes, daughter of Carl and Karin Rhodes.
Some of those errors came from Bayfield’s adjustment to a faster-paced offense.
The Wolverines are working to increase the speed of their sets and improve the quality of their back sets, and the large score gaps gave them plenty of time to practice.
“That’s why you saw our right sides and our back side net working,” Foutz said. “We’re trying to develop.”
Most of the pace on the offense and the decision-making falls on Rhodes, who had 27 assists in the three sets and directed a balanced offense.
Seven different BHS players had a kill, led by senior Kirstie Hillyer’s 11. Fellow senior Jessie Roukema had five, and sophomore Maddi Foutz added four.
“Everyone contributed (Thursday night); that’s absolutely crucial, because we will not be a one-note song with our big kid in the middle,” said coach Foutz, referring to Hillyer, their 6-6 Colorado State recruit.
The Wolverines also are working on becoming a more versatile team with each player learning at two different positions, which makes them more versatile and able to adapt during games.
“I love it. I love going different spots and finding out what my coach wants me to do,” said Roukema, daughter of Jerrin and Shane Roukema. “I think it’s really important for us.”
Thursday’s match also was Bayfield’s last before the team will enter Intermountain League play at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at home against Monte Vista.
The Wolverines haven’t lost in the IML since 2007, but they have larger goals.
BHS was ranked No. 4 in Class 3A in the latest Colorado High School Activities Association poll, and the team knows it.
“We think about rankings. We think about who’s in front of us. We think about who’s behind us,” Rhodes said. “Every day in practice, we think about the other teams, and we think about how we’re going to achieve the state championship.”
That’s the goal coach Foutz wants her team focused on more so than the raw numbers of the rankings.
“We know where we need to go,” she said. “Our seniors experienced that state tournament last year, and they left unsatisfied. That is why we’re pushing speed now, pushing confidence now, so when we talk about numbers and rankings, that only goes so far. We do not let our kids get hung up on the numbers.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
