Sierra Martin and the Durango High School volleyball team gave flowers to the Grand Junction players before the start of Friday’s game to show respect for the loss of the Grand Junction junior varsity coach.
Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Taylor Wolf of Durango High School watches her kill go past Grand Junction’s net defense on Friday at DHS. Wolf finished the night with 10 kills and four blocks to help the Demons to a win in four sets.
Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Durango High School’s Millie O’Ketter records one of her 16 digs against Grand Junction on Friday night at DHS. O’Ketter also recorded seven aces in the win.
Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Sierra Martin of the Durango High School girls varsity volleyball team gives flowers to players on the Grand Junction team before the start of Friday’s game to show respect for the loss of the Grand Junction junior varsity head coach. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Brett Rowland, center, of Durango High School is completely focused while playing Grand Junction on Friday night at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The Durango High School girls varsity volleyball team lines up with flowers before Fridays game at DHS to give to players on the Grand Junction team to show respect for the loss of the Grand Junction junior varsity head coach. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Taylor Wolf of Durango High School watches her kill shot go through Grand Junction players during Friday nights game at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Brett Rowland of Durango High School makes a kill shot while playing Grand Junction on Friday night at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Lana Razma of Durango High School watches her kill shot go through Grand Junction players during Friday nights game at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Lana Razma of Durango High School digs a ball while playing Grand Junction on Friday night at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Ally Snow of Durango High School makes a kill shot while playing Grand Junction on Friday night at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Sierra Martin of Durango High School blocks a shot while playing Grand Junction on Friday night at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Lana Razma of Durango High School blacks a Grand Junction shot during Friday nights game at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Taylor Wolf of Durango High School has her shot blocked while playing Grand Junction on Friday night at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Millie O’Ketter of Durango High School digs the ball while playing Grand Junction on Friday night at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Durango High School celebrates a set victory over Grand Junction on Friday night at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Brianna Brown of Durango High School sets the ball while playing Grand Junction on Friday night at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Brett Rowland of Durango High School taps the ball over the net while playing Grand Junction on Friday night at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Taylor Wolf of Durango High School knocks the ball over the net while playing Grand Junction on Friday night at DHS.Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Lana Razma of Durango High School digs a ball while playing Grand Junction on Friday night at DHS. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Durango High School’s volleyball team picked up a 3-1 win in its 5A/4A Southwestern League opener against Grand Junction (22-25, 25-11, 25-12 and 25-19) on Friday night at DHS, but the match on the court was far from the most important matter.
Grand Junction junior varsity coach Tammy Wells, wife of head coach Jeff Wells, died unexpectedly Tuesday. She was 47.
The Wells family has ties to Durango in daughter Ashley, who was a four-year starter for the Fort Lewis College volleyball team from 2011-14. Ashley is the Tigers’ C-Team coach.
Eleven members of the Grand Junction program – seven players, two coaches and two managers – made the trip for the match, and the Tigers showed the resiliency and fortitude of individuals well beyond their teenage years.
Grand Junction assistant coach Don Bavor, who led the Tigers for Friday’s match, declined an interview after the match, only saying, “My girls love each other and they’ll always love each other.”
During the lineup announcements prior to the start of the match, each member of the Durango team presented flowers to the Tigers’ players.
“We talked before the game and I told the girls this is why we play sports,” Durango head coach Colleen Vogt said. “For two hours, no matter what’s going on in the world or in our lives we can come and be together as a team and have fun. It was a heavy heart tonight, and I think we played that way. I can’t even imagine what Grand Junction is going through.”
In the first set of the night, Durango (7-3, 1-0 SWL) held a 15-11 lead before the Tigers (4-8, 1-3) found a spark with a 9-0 run to take a 20-15 lead. Grand Junction went on to outscore the Demons 14-7 to take the first set.
But that was all the magic the Tigers could muster.
Following the first set, Durango took charge and rolled to wins in the second and third.
In the fourth set, Grand Junction put a little pressure on the Demons. After Durango took a quick 5-1 lead, the Tigers clawed back and nearly tied the set at 10-10, but the momentum slipped away and Durango pulled away for the victory.
The victory allowed Durango to work in some playing time for its bench.
“I get to see them every day in practice,” Vogt said of the team’s bench, “and I have 100-percent confidence and trust in everybody that’s on varsity. I’m happy they finished the game and end with kills and do their job. They do their job every day in practice and they deserve to get some playing time and some experience, which was really fun.”
Durango sophomore libero Millie O’Ketter continued her strong season with 16 digs and seven aces in the match.
Durango provided another balanced attack with setter Brianna Brown spreading out her 29 assists. Four players registering 10 or more kills. Brett Rowland and Lana Razma led the team with 14 kills, followed by Ally Snow driving home 12 kills and Taylor Wolf recording 10. Wolf also notched four of the team’s eight blocks on the night.
Durango will have a quick turnaround, hosting Grand Junction Central (2-9, 1-2) at 11 a.m. Saturday.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to our policies
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
