With 11 players who have playing time on varsity back, Durango High School head volleyball coach Kelley Rifilato is returning her most experienced DHS squad this season.
The team had to deal with a lot of adversity last season, losing Mason Rowland to an injury early on and then facing other challenges.
The players, however, were able to fill in all of the holes that popped up and eventually won a regional title to earn a spot in the Class 4A state championships.
“They were thrown in some adverse situations last year and they showed maturity,” Rifilato said.
Besides four seniors lost to graduation, the rest of the team is back for the Demons this year. The team has also been busy preparing for this season.
In addition to open gyms and playing sand volleyball once a week, several team members played club ball over the winter and the team also competed together at camps in Utah and New Mexico.
“That helped build confidence coming in,” Rifilato said, noting that having so many varsity returners created consistency over the summer.
Seniors Sarah Somrak and Aava Dreger are both back for a fourth season playing varsity.
“Aava is the wise one on the court, always watching what’s going on,” Rifilato said. “Sarah was an all-league middle blocker and she’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”
Brooklyn Messier, the team’s senior libero, is back for a third varsity season. “She accepts anything I challenge her with,” Rifilato said, calling Messier the team’s “emotional leader.”
Junior Eva Stewart played almost everywhere on the court as a freshman and then stepped up to become the team’s setter last year when Rowland went down.
“She spent a lot of time in the gym and it shows,” Rifilato said. “She’s just a calm leader.”
While Stewart controls where the ball goes, she’s also an offensive force with her serving.
Hayden Neiman, meanwhile, is the youngest player on Durango’s varsity squad, but she played at state with DHS last year as a freshman, played club ball in the offseason and is also making her presence felt.
“There’s just a good team culture,” Rifilato said. “They’re all so different, but the team chemistry is really good.”
That experience and chemistry will be key because the Demons don’t have any easy games on their schedule after a couple of new coaches joined their league.
In addition to games against nonleague foes Bayfield, Pagosa Springs and Farmington, the Demons will also play in the Lewis-Palmer tournament in Colorado Springs before starting its league season.
The 4A/5A Southwestern League also has some new coaches that are expected to raise the level of competition.
Former coach at Idaho State University and Western Wyoming Community College Rick Reynolds is leading Grand Junction Central. Reynolds resigned from Idaho State in 2019 to pursue business opportunities outside of volleyball, but is now back coaching.
Grand Junction also has a new coach, Jeniel Eilers, to turn the program around. And Montrose’s entire team was pretty much sophomores last year, so the Red Hawks also have an experienced bunch.
“Honestly, our schedule is super tough so we’ll work on getting better every week,” Rifilato said. “Every night will be a dogfight.”
The team’s first dogfight will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Bayfield.
