BAYFIELD
The slideshow played in an otherwise dark Bayfield High School gymnasium, honoring each of the Wolverines’ five seniors with pictures from their career and life projected onto a wall.
After it ended, Kirstie Hillyer, Martina Moreno, Caitlin Phelps, Suzie Rhodes and Jessie Roukema hugged their parents, cried, hugged their teammates and cried a little more.
It wasn’t an easy moment for BHS head coach Terene Foutz, either.
“It was more of a mom moment than a coach moment,” she said. “You care about these kids. You care about what they feel about themselves and what they go through. It was emotional.”
The 15-minute warmup gave everyone time to recompose and focus on playing Intermountain League rival Pagosa Springs.
BHS responded with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-16) sweep in the 30th IML win of the seniors’ careers.
“It actually wasn’t very difficult at all (to refocus),” said Hillyer, daughter of Laura and Rich Hillyer. “We’ve been looking forward to this game all week.”
Hillyer led the team with a match-high 12 kills, and the 6-6 middle blocker had a couple of blocks, as well.
BHS (15-2, 6-0 IML) jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set and a 14-1 lead in the second thanks to a dominant serving effort.
The Wolverines had nine aces as a team, led by three from sophomore Emily Bauer.
“We’re really committed to location serving. With that comes risk, and we’re willing to take on that risk right now,” Foutz said. “I’m really proud to see Emily get a string. She had a good run (Tuesday night).”
BHS only trailed for one point during the match at the start of the third set.
Hillyer got the Wolverines back on track with three consecutive kills and finished the match with a kill on match point.
A Pagosa Springs (14-6, 5-2 IML) win would have thrown the IML title into question, but BHS held strong at home.
“Of course it’s disappointing,” Pagosa Springs’ head coach Connie Sue O’Donnell said. “You play to win, but I thought we played better than when we played at our place.”
At this point, only road matches with Centauri on Friday and Alamosa on Tuesday stand between Bayfield’s seniors and a perfect 32-0 career record in league play.
“It gives us a lot of motivation just trying to finish it,” said BHS senior Jessie Roukema, daughter of Jerrin and Shane Roukema.
Even with all of the pageantry of senior night and it being Bayfield’s final regular-season home game, the Wolverines still can play two more matches at home.
BHS has hosted a regional tournament in every year of its seniors’ careers, and the Wolverines are squarely in the running for that honor again at No. 4. The top eight teams will host regionals after the regular season to determine who qualifies for the state tournament.
“It’s really what they’re striving for,” Foutz said. “They have been accustomed to being supported during a regional, and we hope to earn that again at home.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
Bayfield Wolverines
Bayfield High School
Volleyball
Senior Night
Tuesday, Oct. 14
Kirstie Hillyer
Martina Moreno
Caitlin Phelps
Suzie Rhodes
Jessie Roukema
Durango Herald
