DENVER – Seeking their program’s first volleyball title in a quarter-century, the 2022 Demons could take solace in the fact that though the ultimate prize eluded them, they still got Durango back to the CHSAA State Championships for the first time in a decade.
“That’s really cool,” said junior Aava Dreger. “Like, I always thought about it when I was younger and in club; going to State was always one of my goals, something I wanted to do. And now that I can actually say I came here, I want to come back.”
“It’s just a really great experience,” sophomore Eva Stewart said, “and really fun to be here with my team … to have new opportunities to get better and learn.”
Initially seeded 12th out of 12 teams pursuing the Class 4A crown, DHS’ season to savor ended on Friday as No. 6 Niwot prevailed 25-18, 25-17, 25-17 in a Day 2 eliminator inside the Denver Coliseum.
“It’s not like we played bad; we just didn’t connect on things we needed to connect on,” Dreger said, speaking after the Demons broke an emotional huddle with head coach Kelley Rifilato and staff, including assistant Kennedy Fockler (née Clark), a senior on DHS’ 2012 state team. “Sure I’m a little upset it didn’t go our way, but I’m really happy with the season we had.”
“Kelley’s brought up a lot of younger people,” said Stewart, a sophomore who became DHS’ top setter when senior Mason Rowland, on the bench and in otherwise good spirits, was lost to injury, “and in practicing with the younger people I think we’ll have a really good and quick team next year.”
Featuring a forceful front row anchored by 6-feet, 5-inch junior Addison Engel, Niwot went on an alarming 6-0 run in the first set after Durango (19-8 overall) took a 1-0 lead. Rifilato didn’t hesitate in taking a timeout to refocus her players, who’d just seen what Niwot could do from the service line (an ace by 5-feet, 10-inch senior Paige Demosthenes), or with a clean set (a kill by 5-feet, 9-inch junior Giselle Grier), or defensively at the net (a tandem block by 6-feet 1-inch senior Grace Demmel and 5-feet 10-inch senior Hannah Waldron).
Helped by senior weapon Leah Wolf, the Demons tightened a 9-3 gap to 12-7, but NHS held on to take the opener despite a late DHS push, 20-15.
Trailing 13-7 in Game 2 after a booming Demosthenes kill, the Demons – already minus a timeout in the new stanza after an Engel smash upping Niwot’s lead to 9-4 – knew it was do-or-die time. If not to knot the match at one game apiece, to build up momentum for pushing the match into a fourth or tiebreaking fifth – akin to their Region VI triumph the previous Saturday over Lakewood Green Mountain, as well as their Day 1 loss to 5-seed Lewis-Palmer.
Starting with junior Sarah Somrak’s kill through the middle, Durango went on an 8-2 run – highlighted by a Hayden Neiman block plus two more Somrak finishes – to tie at 15-15. But after still being even at 16, a netted DHS serve gave the Cougars the lead – for good, as it turned out, with an Engel/Josephine Gravelle stuff plus kills by Engel and Demosthenes part of a clinching 9-1 run capped by Demmel terminating a perfect Anne Haley set.
Striking first in Game 3 to knock Haley off the service line, Durango went up 4-3 after a Wolf kill and an NHS passing error. Rifilato was pressed to call a timeout down 8-5 after Somrak was blocked and the Demons couldn’t keep the ricochet in play. Grier then served out of bounds, and DHS followed with a Dreger tip plus three consecutive Wolf kills as Stewart increased the pace.
“Yeah, I just wanted to get fast plays,” she said. “Throw off their blockers (by) making it fast.”
“That block was really good, but I also feel we could beat them; they took a little minute to get up, and if we were faster we could hit over,” Dreger said. “We just … kept crushing, going with those fast sets; speeding up … helped in our favor.”
Senior Emma Burns put DHS up 11-10 with a deflected kill, but NHS quickly regained a 12-11 lead when Demmel roofed a Stewart set. Durango quickly tied, and did so again at 14-14 via a Burns bash and a Dreger drive through NHS’ block.
Unfortunately the Cougars – under first-year boss Tony Engel, a former Ball State University men’s player who’d moved to Colorado the year after DHS downed then-4A Lamar in the 1997 State Championship – responded by going on a 7-1 spree punctuated by a Demosthenes kill. NHS then secured the sweep by scoring the final four points.
“I feel our whole team atmosphere – we’re all super close – was amazing; just being part of something bigger than yourself was really fun,” Dreger said. “I’m going to grow and we’re all going to work really hard; we’re going to come back. This is a big accomplishment getting here, and I’m really proud of every one of us.”
“It is what it is,” Rifilato said. “They’ve evolved so much in such a short period of time, and … can only get better.”
Durango will lose Wolf, Burns, Rowland and Naomi Rowe to graduation this spring.
Niwot, meanwhile, remained in contention by ousting No. 7 Colorado Springs Discovery Canyon 25-19, 27-29, 25-8, 25-17 later in the evening, and improving to 21-8 before a showdown Saturday against Lewis-Palmer. The Rangers (19-9) beat no. 4 Lutheran, 3-1, after beating DHS on Friday, but fell into the survival stages via a 3-0 loss to Monument town rival – and No. 1 seed – Palmer Ridge (25-2) in the winners’ bracket semifinals.
