There was no doubting that, last fall, Alamosa’s Aubrey Rothermich and Morgan Ortega were tight on the volleyball court, exhibiting the type of hitter-setter bond seen in almost every successful squad statewide.
“I hang out with her in school, out of school, in practice …. We also play basketball together – she’s one of my best friends,” Rothermich had said after a match at AHS, “and I couldn’t appreciate her enough. We’re very close.”
If there was any doubting that without the since-graduated Ortega (currently playing as a Lamar Community College freshman), a now-senior Rothermich might not be as potent ….
Well, such concerns were authoritatively quashed Thursday night inside Bayfield High School Gymnasium. Regularly given near-perfect sets by skilled freshman Ashlyn Rice, the high-flying Rothermich either swung furiously through or tipped cleverly away from BHS’ blocking and powered the Mean Moose to a 25-17, 25-20, 25-17 road win.
Bolstered offensively by senior Laci Christensen and junior Kadie Hawkins – whose freshman sibling Kyla actually ended the match with a kill – Alamosa improved to 2-0 in the 3A Intermountain and 8-1 overall, having lost only to perennial Patriot League and classification contender Eaton. Bayfield dropped to 5-4 overall and 1-1 IML with the loss.
“We have weapons everywhere,” Christensen said. “We can hit from the back row, can set from the back row – we’re just well-rounded. Our defense is scrappy; we get everything up. So I think really just being a team, going hard at every ball. ... That mindset travels throughout our team and gives everybody confidence.”
Behind the match-starting serving of Addison Rice and senior Jaelin Garcia – rotated in for Kadie Hawkins – the Mean Moose led Set 1 practically wire-to-wire, expanding their advantage to as many as nine points at 23-14 and again at 24-15. Rice then served long and Bayfield senior Evelette Hollibaugh followed with a kill, but Rothermich promptly responded to clinch an eight-point win and 1-0 match lead.
BHS sophomore Kieley White Thunder began Set 2 on serve, but Alamosa quickly gained the upper hand and swelled the score to 11-7. Bayfield boss Terene Foutz used a timeout, which soon paid dividends when the Wolverines helped by a White Thunder ace clipping the top of the net and a scoring shot by junior reserve Kambria Bailey, drew level at 12-all and pressed AHS skipper Annie Mortensen into calling her first timeout in the contest.
And after Bayfield re-tied the score at 13- and 14-all, the Mean Moose went up 15-14 and never let BHS approach any closer than 20-18 via a kill by freshman Londyn Hollibaugh – who admitted that, due to directly facing AHS’ loaded front row, she might have been more defensively-geared, as opposed to going ballistic offensively.
“Well I was just really focused on trying to make sure that my back row doesn’t get destroyed,” she said knowing back-row players like senior Maeli Quintana, freshman Grayson Bailey and – particularly – senior libero Lauren Rich had done about all a team could do against such strength. “So it was pretty hard, but I feel like I did my best and I’m proud of that.”
Alamosa reached set point, 24-19, via a Rothermich tip a diving Rich couldn’t control, and after Rothermich then served long, giving the Wolverines hope for a rally, Christensen hammered down an over-pass kill after an Evelette Hollibaugh dig sent the ball hurrying back toward the guests’ side.
“If we’re kind of going down in points we just try to fight back,” said Christensen. “It’s really about not underestimating our opponent and basically just siding out every ball. So we’re going to … really focus on what we can work on from this game, and we’re just going to keep getting better.”
Rothermich’s hardest-hit ball of the match put AHS up 14-7 in Set 3 and Foutz decided to use her second – and last – allotted timeout. But, momentum was with the visitors and the Mean Moose first reached match point at 24-16 via another Rothermich swing. Foutz wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised by that, or by anything AHS’ standout did.
Foutz was mostly positive in Thursday night’s post-match huddle.
“She just said ‘That was a good game and I’m really proud of how we played,’” recalled Hollibaugh. “Just prepping us for the next games. I mean, it felt good to me; I feel I played one of the best games I’ve played. And even though we lost I think we went out (playing well).”
