DENVER – Lamar head coach Darren Robbins was content … but not enthused with his sixth-seeded Thunder rolling into the second stage of the 2024 CHSAA Class 3A State Volleyball Championships.
“It wasn’t pretty,” he declared. “We’ve played better – and I’ve seen (Bayfield) on film and they’ve played better – but that’s what state does to you. The lights are bright, people get nerves – and nerves make some people play better, and some play worse. So it’s just a matter of who pulls it out in the end, and who makes less mistakes.”
Via the 25-19, 25-18, 20-25, 25-19 conquest over Bayfield, Lamar’s seventh consecutive since a best-of-three loss to Wiggins at the Sterling Invitational, the Thunder (24-2 overall) advanced to face third-seeded, Colorado Springs-based Village (22-3) – powered by Stanford recruit Erika Sayer, a 6-foot, 4-inch senior middle – in the slated 5 p.m. match, which did not begin until well after 6:15.
LHS sophomore middle Mireya Gomez had ended each of the first two sets with short-angle kills through No. 11 Bayfield’s middle, and in each set, the Wolverines never so much as pulled even after the Thunder gained a 9-8 lead. Before Gomez clinched set wins of 25-19 and 25-18, however, BHS had threatened to force their way back into the fight; junior Grace Barber blasted a kill off a quick set late in the first set and senior Christiana Sutherlin ripped a kill late in the second set.
After Bayfield knocked junior Addy Krug off serve beginning set three, Sutherlin pounded another kill and before Lamar knew what had hit them, BHS held a 5-0 lead, highlighted by junior libero Lauren Rich’s ace serve-splitting junior libero Keiton Chavira and senior Brooklyn Robbins.
LHS managed to get on the scoreboard but BHS emphatically went wire-to-wire. The Thunder did manage to close to 20-17 via a netted attack by BHS senior Kambrie Byrd, but after Wolverines head coach Terene Foutz used a timeout the team got a vital spark from an unexpected source in sophomore Vivien Clance, who’d been inserted into the starting lineup likely due to the roster battling a round of the flu.
Having caught fire during set three, Byrd would make the score 22-19 with a kill, then in short order bring up set point, 24-19, by acing Robbins. Wanting to sew up the set the same way, she netted her next try, but Bayfield locked up a 25-20 win when junior Evelette Hollibaugh converted a roll shot off Gomez’s block.
Losing little heat during the brief intermission preceding set four, the Wolverines went up 3-0, helped by a Clance ace and a Sutherlin kill assisted by Rich. The Thunder, however, indicated the match was still very much up for grabs as Robbins rejected senior Audrey Knapp one-on-one, but BHS answered in kind with Knapp stonewalling Robbins to end a protracted rally.
Soon after, Byrd belted a kill for a 5-4 lead, but Lamar responded and went up 7-6. The advantage would remain until the very end, though the Wolverines never went away down the stretch. Coming as close as 13-12 via a Knapp kill off Krug’s block, BHS fought back to 22-19 via a Byrd ace. Then Krug downed a second-chance kill, junior Alessia Salcedo somehow flicked a backhanded tip over and behind Bayfield’s block and, trying to make something out of a poor set, Clance clipped the antenna with an off-kilter shot after LHS freshman Tatym McTaggart served at match point.
Denied a fifth straight victory, Bayfield (16-10 overall) played at 8 a.m. today with a little surprise awaiting them as far as their next opponent. It was determined in four sets Thursday evening that BHS would next face Intermountain League rival Centauri.
