BAYFIELD
It takes a confident coach and a courageous team to schedule the fourth-rankedteam in all of New Mexico for their homecoming game. Bayfield head coach Terene Foutz did just that, and the fans on blackout night at Bayfield High School got a treat of a volleyball match.
It didn’t start out in celebratory fashion, though, as the high-powered Class 6A Piedra Vista squad silenced the crowd with a 25-13 first set win. Class 3A Bayfield turned the tables late in the second set behind the service of senior Emily Bauer in a 25-20 win, and the Wolverines (10-3, 5-0 3A Intermountain League) never looked back. They took the third game 25-18 and the fourth 25-19 to beat the No. 2 6A team in New Mexico and the fourth-best team in all the state.
“It’s a mental cat and mouse battle out there, and we gave them a little bit of equal medicine because they’re a good serving team also,” coach Foutz said. “They had trouble getting the ball to the middle, and we were getting double-block opportunities that stopped their attack. These Bayfield girls have put in the work and they know what they’re capable of.”
Piedra Vista (11-2) won the first meeting in the season, a Sept. 20 matchup in Farmington that ended in a 3-1 Panthers win. They came out Tuesday with guns blazing.
The Panthers, which won the final three sets of the previous match, started the match as they left off. Sophomore Courtney Moore had her way for the Panthers in taking a dominant first set win.
But Bayfield wasn’t about to pack it up and let the rowdy faithful down and turned the momentum around in the second set behind the serves of Bauer.
With the game tied 17-all, Bauer’s service led to five consecutive points for Bayfield, which closed out the game 25-20 to even the match.
The win in the second game fired up an already raucous Bayfield student section, and the Wolverines fed off the momentum. The home team jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the third game and withstood the Piedra Vista run, again, behind strong serves from Bauer.
Bayfield never relinquished the lead and took a 2-1 match lead with a 25-18 win.
“I’m so proud of myself because I’ve been working so hard to get better with my serves,” said Bauer, daughter of Elizabeth and Mark Bauer. “I felt like the momentum switched at the end of that second game. Everyone stepped up and started taking more responsibility and communicating. It just feels great to help the team.”
As it often does in volleyball, the momentum continued to swing Bayfield’s way. It looked like a done deal when the Wolverines jumped out to a 15-3 fourth-set lead, but it wasn’t.
Piedra Vista chipped away and eventually cut the huge deficit to three at 21-18. But, the Bayfield hitters Maddi Foutz, Sydney Gabbard, Kylee McCoy and Jade Pascale put the lights out on blackout night as BHS took the final game 25-19.
Courtney Bayles made it easy for the hitters all night long, feeding them with 41 assists. Foutz led the way with 13 kills and added 14 digs for a double-double. Bauer finished the night with 20 digs and four aces that turned the match around. McCoy had eight kills, Gabbard had nine and Pascale had 10 in the big win.
“We’ve been preparing for this match ever since they beat us badly a few weeks ago,” said Pascale, daughter of Casey and Corinne Pascale. “The first game was tough, but this is our house and our homecoming. It’s really hard to come back from getting beaten that badly and then losing that first game tonight. I’m very proud of the girls on this team. Hard work pays off.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
