Undoubtedly eager to begin preparing for the very near future – meaning a Tuesday match against Piedra Vista–Bayfield Volleyball head coach Terene Foutz hadn’t forgotten about her team’s past.
Or that of the Wolverines’ opponent on Saturday. Particularly Palisade junior Kyra Birch, back in action after recovering from a wicked left-knee injury suffered early in PHS’ 2022 opener versus BHS. With Bayfield now-junior Christiana Sutherlin still benched by a similar malady (incurred during the springtime girls’ soccer season), Foutz knew too well Birch’s return would – and ultimately did – bring the visitors a major morale boost.
“We have one of our kids out with the same injury, and it’s a long journey to healing. So I don’t care what team you’re on; we must celebrate those successes because we want to see all kids on the floor who deserve to be on the floor, loving the game and representing their teams,” Foutz said, following a 15-25, 16-25, 22-25 loss to the Bulldogs. “I’m really happy for her … and it’s my hope that our community gets behind our injured player(s) once they have their opportunities.”
“Personally, I approached this game really aggressively,” Birch said. “I was playing a little on the safer side, but I really wanted to just come back strong and kind of get redemption.”
“With a new team, new rotations … we really wanted to be ready,” she continued. “We wanted to come into this, play hard and just kind of figure things out … to open the season strong, and I thought it was a really, really good match.”
“She tore her ACL (plus damaged the meniscus) the first game of last season, in the first set. So she really came out swinging – had something to prove to herself, and to all of us,” said junior setter Braeleigh MacAskill. “And all our other hitters were there; I think that was probably nice for her, to not feel like it was all on her shoulders her first game back.”
Palisade (1-0, 0-0 4A Western Slope) made sure to make the first verse go as smoothly as possible, negating any nervousness Birch and others may have had. Starting with a kill by 6-foot junior Addie Ritterbush, the Bulldogs built a 2-1 lead into an 18-10 advantage, pressing Foutz into using her second allotted timeout after a scoring Birch serve.
Wolverine junior Kambrie Byrd answered with a scoring shot, but PHS pulled away and took a 1-0 lead in the match when 6-foot, 1-inch junior Grace McAnany punished a perfect MacAskill quick set for an indefensible kill.
Bayfield (0-3, 0-0 3A Intermountain) traded evenly with Palisade early in Game 2, with a Bulldog serve out of bounds tying the score at 5-all. But helped by a kill by 6-foot, 1-inch junior Sabrina Landman – cleared for varsity play after transferring last year from Fruita Monument – and an unplayable Birch serve, PHS separated to 10-5 and steadily grew their lead to 18-10. Wolverines Grace Barber and Evelette Hollibaugh hammered kills in response, but BHS got no closer than 19-15 after back-to-back stuffs at the net by senior Katie Killinen.
Refusing to surrender, Bayfield erased an early 3-0 deficit in Game 3 to tie at 4- and then 5-all before taking a brief 6-5 lead. PHS went back ahead at 7-6, and gradually built up a 17-14 advantage before Foutz took a timeout. Ritterbush, however, then landed an ace and Birch followed with a kill. A double-contact infraction against BHS then gave the Bulldogs their largest lead at 20-14.
Yet the Wolverines continued battling, and a Killinen ace brought Bayfield back to 22-21. Byrd then downed a tying kill and Palisade skipper Wendy MacAskill alertly called timeout. Fortunately for PHS, the pause paid off. Barber smacked a potential go-ahead shot wide and out of play. Byrd then put an attack into the net – bringing up match point, which went into the history books on a block by Ritterbush and reserve junior Sarah Foster.
“We know every time we step on the court that we’re going to get our opponent’s best game; we’ve had a couple really successful seasons, so that kind of puts a target on our back. It’s an honor and we have to be able to … be willing to respond,” said Wendy MacAskill. “I don’t think we’ve ever been to Bayfield … in the time I’ve been here, and Bayfield’s adding every bit to the challenge of our schedule this year.”
“Last night we had a lot of energy in the beginning but toward the end, especially when our serve-receive broke down, we all just kind of broke down,” Barber said, alluding to BHS’ loss to Delta on Friday. “So that night we had a talk in the locker room about how we need to hold our energy all the way through, and today I feel we all really put in a lot of energy. And gave it our all, even when we messed up.”
“The kids huddled at the end of the match smiling, because they knew they’re starting to get it. They’re starting to really push, and they’re learning how to compete,” said Foutz. “I think we’re letting go of rookie fear and replacing it with some big-girl courage. There will be many mistakes as we learn, and we’re hoping to make ‘great’ mistakes to ‘fail’ forward.”
“I think that now we’re getting more comfortable with each other, know how to play with each other, and communicate, for sure,” Barber said. “This game was where we’re inclining, definitely coming together as a team. Palisade, they’re really tall and, like, we were all nervous going in. But … we were swinging hard, tooling the blocks, and understanding each other more.”
The Wolverines will see action twice this week. After hosting Piedra Vista on Tuesday, Bayfield will travel to Blanding, Utah on Thursday to play 2A San Juan.
“I’m sure PV’s going to be solid like every year,” Foutz said. “We look forward to that; we’ll learn from playing them.”
