Down 2-0 on the road in a tough building, the Durango Demons dug deep and had a change of heart and play.
The Durango High School volleyball team was in a hole after it lost the first two games – 25-15, 25-22 – at Piedra Vista High School in Farmington. DHS head coach Colleen Vogt didn’t change her lineup, and the Demons refused to back down in the third set. They went on to win 25-23. With new life, Durango then won the fourth game 25-15 and the decisive fifth 15-10 to secure a big 3-2 victory and improve to 2-1 overall this season and 2-0 on the road.
“I had faith in the kids on the court,” Vogt said. “I don’t want to say it was a change of effort because they always give great effort, but they had a change of heart. Volleyball is such a momentum game. We eliminated our mistakes and put pressure on them and got on a roll.”
DHS was again without star senior Millie O’Ketter, who has now missed two games with an ankle injury. Kyle Rowland was a force at the net with 11 kills, while Paige Ammerman had 19 assists and nine kills. Lainey Voss added another eight kills.
Leah Wesley took charge of the defense with 20 digs. Emmy Romero added 12 assists for the Demons, and Vogt was again pleased with the middle block of Sydney Summers and Grace Caldwell.
“Down 0-2, it felt like it wasn’t our night,” Vogt said. “The girls could have walked away. Game 3 was a tight match, and I was proud of them for pulling that one out. The next two, I saw big leadership on the court. People are growing in positions, and it was fun to watch the maturity and effort of this team.”
DHS will host Pagosa Springs at 6 p.m. Friday in search of its first home win of the season.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
