For the second match in a row to start the season, the Durango volleyball team was down late in a potential match-clinching set. Up 2-0 against Bayfield on Tuesday night at Durango, the Demons could’ve easily let the set go and moved on to the next. They didn’t.
This Durango girls volleyball team showed impressive chemistry during the third set. Despite being down 21-16 late, none of the Demons looked scared and they all wanted the ball from senior setter Eva Stewart.
With its togetherness and balance on offense, Durango rallied back in the third set to win 26-24 and beat Bayfield 3-0.
Durango won the first 25-19 and the second set 25-18. The Demons improved to 2-0 this season. Senior outside hitter Avery Rike led Durango with 13 kills. Junior opposite hitter Aysia Mathews and freshman outside hitter Devyn Edwards each finished with six kills.
“We play contagious defense which is fantastic in the back row,” Durango head coach Kelley Riffilato said. “We’ve got to tighten up our blocking. It’s the opposite of last year. Offensively, we were fantastic. Avery Rike had 13 kills. She doesn’t hit the same ball ever twice. It’s great, she’s learned a lot over the last year, just the confidence she plays with. Only four errors is great.”
Riffilato commended Mathews and Edwards for their play. She said Edwards doesn’t play like a 14-year-old.
Bayfield dropped to 1-2 this season with the loss. No individual stats were available at the time of publication.
“I like how they responded in the third,” Bayfield head coach Terene Foutz said. “We are a team that needs to start fast. We waited too long. Obviously, the gaming is there, the transitions were good. Our libero (Lauren Rich) was outstanding tonight on serve/receive. She took most of the brunt. Durango has a really great serve. But they kept finding her and she kept us in the match.”
Durango showed its skill and athleticism with plenty of blocks in the middle of the first set. Edwards showed off her athleticism with a powerful kill right down the middle that no Bayfiled player had a chance at which put the Demons up 13-7.
Bayfield cut into the lead with a 4-0 run off some Demons errors. Foutz then had to call a timeout after Durango’s lead was extended to 20-13 off some Bayfield errors.
Durango had multiple set points but was sloppy at the end. But once again, Edwards flew off the floor and had a powerful kill from the left side to win the set 25-19.
“We’ve had some freshmen on varsity but not like that … She’s come into her own this last year,” Riffilato said about Edwards. “She’s amazing to watch.”
Rich had a nice kill for Bayfield to put it up 3-1. Both teams had serving errors early on. But Durango settled into a better rhythm. Two consecutive hitting errors by Bayfield made Foutz call a timeout down 9-4
Durango continued to play well and extended its lead was quality sets and hits. Bayfield struggled to find a rhythm and trailed 14-6. Rike was set up beautifully for a nice kill from the left side to put Durango up 20-12.
Foutz said the team decided at the end of the second set to go all out for those points regardless of what happened.
Her advice paid off as Bayfield crept closer at the end. Durango made an error or two, Rich hit an ace and Durango blocked one out of bounds. In only a few minutes, the Demons led 21-17.
Durango’s power and talent carried them to the end of the second set to the 25-18 win.
Bayfield started getting kills against Durango to start the third set up 5-2. The serving of Neiman got the Demons up 6-5
Durango didn’t seem as crisp in the middle of the third set with its passing and hitting and trailed 10-6.
Senior Christiana Sutherlin had a powerful kill to push the Bayfield lead to 12-9. Stewart had another incredible save at point-blank range to keep the point alive and it eventually went to the Demons. Mathews had a kill shortly after to give Durango a 14-13 lead.
“She always brings the energy,” Riffilato said about Mathews. “The energy she gives off when she blocks a ball or gets a kill, she celebrates and she fires everybody up. That’s fun to have.”
But Bayfield wouldn’t go away. Wolverines senior Kambrie Byrd had a fantastic ace that touched just inside the back white line to put the Wolverines up 16-14.
The Wolverines had much better composure late in the third set compared to earlier in the match. They took a 21-16 lead and Riffilato took her second timeout of the set.
Durango responded with three points to cut the Bayfield lead up to 21-19. The Demons benefited from a questionable inbounds call at the back line.
A Stewart ace tied the set at 23. She finished with a team-high five aces. Stewart liked to play it right down the right line and challenge the opponent’s judgment. An Edwards kill put Durango up 24-23 before the winning point that ended the match.
Next up for both teams is the Lewis-Palmer tournament starting on Sept. 7. Riffilato said her team needs to work blocking, continuing to play with composure and a diverse offense. Foutz will work with her team on attack mentality and confidence in high-hand hitting when they know the block will arrive.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
