The Durango High School volleyball team will head into the Class 4A state volleyball tournament next week with momentum after concluding its regular season going 4-1 at the Dakota Ridge Eagle Invite over the weekend.
“It was a great weekend,” said DHS head coach Kelley Rifilato. “The girls were happy to get some hardware.”
The Demons started the tournament on Friday by beating Pomona, 25-10, 25-11.
Durango then beat Monarch 25-12, 23-25 and 15-7.
“I felt we played really good against Monarch,” Rifilato said.
On Saturday, Durango lost its first set to Rocky Mountain, but rallied to win the next two to take the match 22-25, 25-19 and 16-14.
“We started a little slow, but just kept battling,” Rifilato said. “Rocky is a good team, and it was super close,. The kids just played well at a high level.”
DHS struggled in its next game against Arapahoe and fell 25-22, 25-12.
“We had a little mental lapse against Arapahoe and a lot of uncharacteristic errors,” Rifilato said.
The team, however, came back and had 12 assisted blocks to beat D’Evelyn 25-23, 25-12 and finish the tournament strong.
“The whole team was blocking, and we were able to shut them down at the net,” Rifilato said. “That was the best volleyball we played all year against D’Evelyn.”
D’Evelyn beat Arapahoe, so the Demons finished tied with both teams with one loss apiece. Arapahoe was awarded first on criteria and Durango brought home a second-place trophy.
Eva Stewart also won a big individual honor after her performance last week. Stewart was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association/MaxPreps high school player of the week in Colorado for Oct. 17-23.
The 5-foot, 11-inch sophomore played 17 sets during the week and averaged 8.23 assists per set for a total of 140. She also had 38 digs, seven aces and seven blocks. Stewart ranks No. 5 in Colorado with 529 assists, but Rifilato said she also served and blocked great at Dakota Ridge.
Aava Dreger also returned to Durango’s lineup and made a noticeable difference. “She’s a very stable player and has a great volleyball IQ,” Rifilato said. “This tournament couldn’t have come at a better time for her.”
Leah Wolf, meanwhile, continued to lead the Demons’ attack.
“So many people tried to stop her, but she was unstoppable,” the coach said.
The Demons will now have to wait and see who and where they’ll compete against next week in the regional round of the Class 4A tournament.
The Demons are ranked for the first time in the latest CHSAANow.com coaches poll, coming in at No. 10. DHS is also ranked No. 16 by MaxPreps and No. 21 in the CHSAA ratings percentage index.
“Wherever we end up is where we end up,” Rifilato said.
