BAYFIELD – When the Bayfield High School volleyball team lost late leads in the first and second sets to rival Durango High, there wasn’t any panic from the Wolverines. They simply listened to head coach Danica Frost, who had a brief message to her team before the start of the third set.
“They got the first two, we get the next three,” Frost told her team. “Those two are done, let’s get the next three.”
The Wolverines did just that, as they took the final three sets to break the Demons’ hearts 21-25, 25-27, 25-16, 25-16 and 15-13.
“I think that losing on our home court against (Piedra Vista last week) was a wake-up call, and we weren’t about to lose again on our home court,” Bayfield senior Ashely Mottin said.
Bayfield held a 20-17 lead in the first set before Durango went on an 8-1 run to get the win. In the second set, Bayfield (8-3) led 22-17 only to allow Durango (6-3) back in the set again.
Junior Taylor Wolf was key in both comebacks for the Demons, as she came through with hard kills and stuff blocks to keep Durango’s runs going.
“Cherry Creek really helped her,” Durango head coach Colleen Vogt said of Wolf. “When we saw that bigger and faster competition, she stepped up, and since then she’s really stepped up. No one works harder than Taylor, and it’s only fitting she would come out and have that kind of game.”
Bayfield got everything going in the third set. After the two teams traded points early, Bayfield took a 10-7 lead and never looked back.
The fourth set was even more one-sided for Bayfield, which maintained a lead of about five points the entire set.
The decisive fifth set was a complete battle between the two sides.
Bayfield took an early 7-4 lead, but the Demons went on a 6-2 run to take a 10-9 lead. From there, the teams traded points with neither side getting up by more than one point until the end.
With the score tied 11-11, Mottin put down a kill but was denied the point when she hit the net on the attempt. But the senior bounced back quickly and notched the next two points for the Wolverines to take a 13-12 lead.
“I think we were just trying to stay calm and do what we know how to do and win the game,” Mottin said of the final few points.
Later, with Bayfield leading 14-13, Durango was whistled for stepping under the net, which gave the set and match to Bayfield.
“I’m really proud of the way we battled all night,” Vogt said. “It’s hard when it ends on a whistle, you want to let the kids battle it out. But the good news is we get to see them next time at our place.”
Bayfield had a balanced offensive attack. Kylee McCoy led Bayfield with 14 kills. Mavis Edwards added 12 kills, and Sydney Gabbard finished with 10 kills to go with a great defensive night.
“I can’t rave enough about Sydney’s digging tonight,” Frost said. “It’s one thing to get a kill – it pumps everyone up. But it’s another to get the ball off the ground.”
Ally Snow led Durango with 16 kills. Brett Rowland, Lana Razma and Wolf all finished with 12 kills each.
Durango will open play in 5A/4A Southwestern League on Friday when it will host Grand Junction Central (2-8, 1-1 SWL).
Bayfield (4-0 Intermountain League) will host Centauri (9-0, 4-0 IML) on Saturday.
The second meeting between Bayfield and Durango will be Oct. 24 at Durango.
kschneider@durangoherald.com
