The Bayfield High School volleyball team is heading to the state tournament. The Wolverines won both their matches in three games Saturday at the 3A Region 12 championships on its home floor.
“It was wonderfully imperfect,” said BHS head coach Terene Foutz. “We stayed the course regardless of errors. I’m proud of them for having the right mindset even if things weren’t perfect.”
While the Wolverines made some errors in the games, they did plenty more right than wrong, and finished each set strong.
No. 12 Bayfield started the tournament by besting No. 25 Colorado Academy 25-16, 25-21 and 25-18.
Senior Annie Fusco led Bayfield’s attack with 16 kills against the Mustangs, including a smash straight to the floor to close out the first game.
Bayfield trailed early in game two, 8-9, but the Wolverines rattled off eight straight points with senior Emily Nelson serving to go up 16-9. Colorado Academy responded with a run of its own to cut Bayfield’s lead to 17-16 and later tied it at 18-18.
Nelson, junior Kenasea Byrd and senior Payton Killough, however, got some late kills to take the lead back, and Killough eventually spiked the game-winner to the floor.
In the third game, senior Sage Killough served an ace to tie it at 8-8. Junior K’Lee Stuffelbeam-Jolly spiked a ball off a Mustang’s face for a kill and Fusco had four kills in a five-point stretch to help BHS take a 19-13 lead. Payton Killough finished the set with a kill to seal the win.
Payton Killough had eight kills and four blocks in the match. Karyssa Gosney served three aces. Sage Killough, meanwhile, dished out the balls her teammates spiked to the floor and finished with 30 assists.
In the next contest, Colorado Academy won the first set against No. 13 Valley, 25-22, but the Vikings rallied and won the next three, 25-6, 25-17 and 25-14, to force a deciding championship match with the Wolverines.
In the final between Bayfield and Valley, the first two games were close early before the Wolverines pulled away. In the third game, however, BHS scored the first five points and never looked back to win the match, 25-19, 25-19 and 25-17, win the region and advance to the state tournament.
“Valley is a great defensive team,” Foust said. “I didn’t expect to win it in three, but the kids had a great day.”
In game one, the teams traded about nine side-outs before Byrd’s kill gave BHS a 13-11 lead. Sage Killough then assisted Byrd with back pass that put BHS up 15-11. Down the stretch, Nelson blocked a shot, Byrd had a kill, and Payton Killough had a pair of kills. Fusco had a pair of kills, and BHS eventually won on a Valley shot that sailed a bit long.
In the second game, all kinds of Wolverines were involved in the attack, keeping Valley guessing where Sage Killough would set it and who would hammer it at them.
Three kills from Nelson helped BHS take an 11-8 lead. Fusco then spiked multiple balls to the floor, Gosney served an ace, and Byrd got a kill, helping BHS go up 19-13. Eventually Stuffelbeam-Jolly and Fusco blocked a shot to bring up set point, and Fusco smashed a spike to an open hole to close it out.
Bayfield kept the momentum rolling into game three. After Fusco got a tip kill to start the scoring, Payton Killough served four straight points, including an ace, and BHS jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Later in the set, Fusco placed a spike on the back line for a point, Sage Killough, Byrd, Nelson and Stuffelbeam-Jolly recorded kills to put BHS up, 18-11. Byrd then had a late block, and Fusco closed out the game with her 18th kill against Valley.
Byrd had nine kills in the match. Payton Killough had 18 service attempts while Gosney had 15 with one ace. Sage Killough had 12 digs and 36 assists.
While the Wolverines played well on Saturday, the coach attributed their success to the work did in the off-season to prepare.
“They gave it their whole summer and have given everything they have,” Foutz said. ‘The senior group is pulling the cart and they earned it.“
Winning the region on the team’s home court also had special meaning.
When the Colorado High School Activities Association released the first bracket, however, BHS was a No. 14 seed.
“I was so angry I couldn’t even function,” Foutz said. Thirty minutes later, however, she said her athletic director called and said there was an error in the original bracket and that Bayfield would in fact host a regional championship.
“It was a rare opportunity to host a region on this side of the state,” Foutz said. “I’m proud of the team for how well they were prepared for this region. It was a team effort, a team finish and just a great day to be Bayfield.”
Bayfield, seeded No. 12 for the state tournament with a 17-8 overall record, will now play No. 5 Liberty Common (20-4) of Fort Collins in the first round at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs. Liberty Common finished one spot higher than Valley in the Patriot League, which No. 1 Resurrection Christian (23-1) won.
The winner of that game will play No. 4 Lutheran in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
