After a tough loss Friday night, Durango High School’s volleyball team wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.
The Demons were up 2-1 to Montrose and had a chance to close the Indians out Friday but lost the fourth set 26-24 and came up short in the fifth set tiebreak. Saturday against Fruita Monument, Durango finished the job when it had the chance and swept the Wildcats 25-17, 26-24, 25-17.
Demons’ senior Lauran Morrissey was all over the place in the libero position and led the team with 27 digs. Sarah Waller had nine kills and Maddie Robertson had eight to propel the Durango attack. Addison Swift helped out all of her teammates with 29 assists.
“We talked about being aggressive and finishing when we have the opportunity,” said Durango head coach Colleen Vogt. “It’s such a game of momentum, so it was nice to play with a lead and, when we got that lead, it was good to see us keep the lead and finish. We’ve been playing great volleyball lately, and I think the team is peaking.”
Down 9-7 in the first set, Morrissey and her deceptive slide serve started a run of 10 Durango points in a row. The streak set the tone for the match and sparked some impressive play from her teammates. Fruita couldn’t overcome the rush of points from Durango, which took the first set 25-17.
“Usually I try to shake it up and pick different people to serve at each time,” said Morrissey, daughter of Dena and Patrick Morrissey. “I was fired up from the loss (Friday), and I was impressed at how we came back (Saturday).”
Even more impressive was the comeback in the second set.
Down again, this time 23-20, Vogt called time out. After the huddle, Durango rattled off four consecutive points and eventually won a set that saw 10 lead changes, 26-24. The game could have turned the tide back in Fruita’s favor, but the Demons rally gave them a commanding lead.
“When we play to win, the other team kind of backs off, and that’s what happened. It was an important swing of momentum,” Vogt said.
The third set was more of the same from Durango. After going down 10-6, the Demons won six points in a row behind the serve of Addison Swift and never gave up the lead. With a 20-17 advantage, Durango finished the job with five consecutive points to close out the match.
The next match for the Demons is at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Montezuma-Cortez at Durango High School. It is the last home match of the season and the team’s seven seniors will be honored on senior night.
“This is a really special group of seniors,” Vogt said. “It’ll be nice to watch them come out and do their thing and rise to the occasion like they’ve done so many times for us.”
jfries@durangoherald.com
