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Bayfield outguns Durango in ferocious 3-0 sweep

Wolverine spikers score vital non-league win on the road

Current Colorado State University middle and Bayfield High product Kirstie Hillyer, feared for such put-aways, would have even raised an impressed eyebrow Tuesday night.

That's how wonderfully wicked junior Kylee McCoy's over-pass kill was in Durango.

And how crucial it would be in keeping the DemonDome visitors' energy at a postseason level in a shootout where both sides sought-and kept finding-bigger and better ammunition with which to do battle.

"We knew that they were going to bounce back, they were going to get some good kills, but so were we," said BHS senior Maddi Foutz. "We just wanted to make sure we didn't slow down for anything."

Leading the 4A Demons two games to none, but locked up with them in the fight Foutz and her teammates knew was still coming, only something massive would potentially subdue the locals and quiet down the DHS student section, known as the "Red Sea."

Giving the Wolverines a 10-9 lead after seven ties-of-score, junior Jade Pascale appeared to have at last done so when she rifled her hardest kill yet into and out of Durango's back row, which was saying something, considering she'd already fired numerous hot ones. Though a feat nearly impossible to follow, let alone one-up, McCoy managed to do both with one devastating swing.

It's been said that bullets have no names, and for good reason; McCoy's near-vertical projectile would have indiscriminately floored any white jersey crazy enough to try stopping it, and the whole scene might have had to be cordoned off until a forensic examiner arrived.

"Honestly, when I go up to the net I just get loaded and ready," she said, still with a Cloud Nine-style daze in her eyes afterwards. "And I was really ready for that one for some reason! I just really wanted it; we had a lot of motivation tonight."

And as soon as the celebratory explosion subsided, McCoy was re-loaded and ready to do even more damage. She did so with another vicious spike for a 12-10 lead and a solo stuff-block for a three-point BHS advantage. That forced DHS head coach Colleen Vogt into at last spending a timeout.

"Kylee, the first few games she was putting it down, but not like that!" said junior setter Courtney Bayles. "She just came out and crushed it! And all of our girls.just wanted to win against Durango; it was awesome."

But the Demons suddenly came back to life and rallied to level the score at 15-15, and then take brief leads at 16-15 and 17-16 before two Pascale blasts put Bayfield back out front, 20-18, and pressed Vogt into using her last stoppage.

Hoping her squad would be able to stay close enough to cruelly swipe a win the way BHS had in Game 1-surviving three game-point exchanges to finally prevail 26-24-she unfortunately saw Foutz burn a ball through her formation to trigger a decisive 5-1 spree. An emphatic McCoy block clinched a 26-24, 25-19, 25-19 sweep for the 3A Intermountain Leaguers.

"We will battle until the few last points and then our energy just kind of ...dies," McCoy said. "And I think in Alamosa we finally learned to just stick together and finish out the game," she added, referring to last Saturday's 25-18, 25-18, 25-20 road victory. "I feel we're a lot better with our energy and we're a stronger team for sure. We really pulled through with each other."

"Alamosa's in the IML, so that gave us a lot of confidence," Foutz said. "But the fact that we beat them in three gave us even more to play Durango. And we've been waiting for a long time, we were shaking, ready to go."

Neither crew led by more than three points in the first game and were deadlocked an unsurprising 11 times. The Wolverines went up 2-1 in Game 2 via two Pascale kills and never looked back. DHS (5-6) did gradually creep closer after falling behind 16-8, but no more so than 20-18 before junior Ashley Mottin-who'd ended Game 1 with a rejection the Demons couldn't revive-downed a kill and Foutz followed with an ace.

A botched Durango tip shot and spectacular Sydney Gabbard cross-court kill rapidly brought about the winning six-point margin, leaving the home side stunned and needing an unlikely three-game comeback to save face. DHS sophomore Faith Dowling and seniors Taylor Edwards, Josie Surmeier and Celia Hale did their best to lead an inspired effort.

"Props to them because their defense was outstanding," Foutz said. "But Bayfield's been working for this game a really long time, and I think we put all of our energy and work into it. It's really paying off right now."

And defense was something BHS boss Terene Foutz raved about when examining statistics.

"We had 16 assists on blocks, which means we had eight double-blocks," she declared. "Plus, we also had six solos. Fourteen team blocks.I don't think I've ever said that before."

"Every game we have to keep composure, keep it together," Bayles said. "And keep all of our hits in, make sure all our passes are staying steady and everything. We can't get out of control, or else."

"They have a really good outside hitter -Number Ten - who really worked our block a lot," said Maddi Foutz, speaking of Dowling. "I give her a lot of props; she's an amazing player. But tonight it was the whole team with Bayfield. Like, without any one it wouldn't have happened; we're one unit."

"Everyone's just really blossomed.took three steps up in the game and it's really exciting to see."

Up next for Bayfield (7-3, 3-0 IML) will be an Oct. 1 triangular in Pagosa Springs versus both potent PSHS (10-1, 4-0) and Monte Vista (0-9, 0-4), with a an Oct. 4 Homecoming rematch against 6A Piedra Vista (10-1 entering tonight's match versus 6A Albuquerque Cibola) following inside BHS Gymnasium.

"It was definitely good for us to have to fight for this, because we definitely learned a lot," McCoy said. "And I think that we have it in us to take on these big teams, these big games!"

"We just need to keep wanting every point," said Bayles. "Not playing to not lose, but playing to win!"