Bayfield High School and Montezuma-Cortez High School haven’t shared a league in volleyball the past five years, but they’ve played so much that they may as well have.
The Panthers and Wolverines will meet for the seventh time in the last six years at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at BHS.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Cortez (3-1) in the previous six meetings.
The Wolverines have prevailed in six consecutive matches while only dropping four total sets in six years.
“They have a lot of very savvy athletes to push their game. Maybe one of the greater challenges is the cat and mouse with some of the kids you’re already familiar with,” BHS head coach Terene Foutz said.
Last season’s matchup in Cortez was significantly closer, however.
BHS (1-1) dropped the first two sets before rallying in the third and staving off defeat 27-25 in the fourth.
The Wolverines closed out the decisive fifth set 15-6 to complete the comeback.
Then-junior, now senior, Kirstie Hillyer led BHS with 14 kills last year, but Bayfield’s other top three attackers graduated.
BHS seniors Martina Moreno, Caitlin Phelps and Jessie Roukema have stepped into their places, and sophomore Maddi Foutz, who played libero last year, switched to outside hitter for the team’s match with Durango High School.
BHS decided to play without a libero in that five-set win, and that strategy paid off.
It won’t be a permanent move, however.
“It depends on the team we’re competing against. There are different values for different lineups. It’s one of three different lineups we look at from set to set,” Foutz said. “It’s really rare to have that flexibility, but this is the year that we can. We just, systemically, poke away at weaknesses to see if we can hone in on the best lineup for the opponent.”
Cortez’s top two attackers from last season, Beth Brown and Naomi Pennecoose, were just juniors.
Their setter, Laurel Chappel, also is back for her junior season.
“(Chappel and Pennecoose) are a great combination. They’ve played with each other since their childhood and year round, at that,” Foutz said. “There’s a very good relationship between the setter and pin hitter.”
The Panthers played in a tournament Thursday through Saturday in Glenwood Springs, going 3-1 against a mix of Class 3A and Class 4A teams.
They beat Frontier Academy, Glenwood Springs and Lutheran and lost to Eerie.
“We’ve learned so much by going to the edge with (Piedra Vista) and Durango. We hope that all those lessons contribute to a great postseason,” Foutz said. “The kids and I have talked about it, and we all agreed that the harder we push in the preseason, the more familiar that feels in postseason.”
kgrabowski@durangoherald.com
