Steamboat Springs — No offense to the Bulldogs, but it wasn’t just the legendary Steamboat Springs vs. Moffat County rivalry that had the Sailors literally counting down the days to Tuesday’s night volleyball match in Steamboat.

Entering the match, Steamboat had already played nine times this season, since its season opener nearly a month ago.

It had not yet played at home, however, and when it finally got the chance Tuesday night, it unloaded a month of waiting on Moffat County in front of a raucous home crowd.

The Sailors beat the Bulldogs, 25-9, 25-9, 25-13.

“We were so excited for our first home game. It’s been a long time,” senior Maritza Wiedel said.

“It’s always hard to play Craig in their gym, but tonight, we were all hyped and ready to go,” Abigail Wiedel said. “We had a great crowd, and that was amazing. They helped us a lot.”

Steamboat, now 9-1 on the season, cruised, winning at the net with big plays, both strong blocks and powerful kills, and behind that, a stiff, diving defense that made life frustrating for Moffat County’s hitters.

Steamboat built early leads in both of the first two games, leading by a score of 16-1 midway through the second. The third was closer, initially, before the Sailors pulled away to win by a comfortable margin.

“We played really good defense. That won the game for us,” Wiedel said. “Sometimes, when you’re doing really well like that, you lose focus, but we didn’t today. We kept pushing.”

The Bulldogs, 2-9 this season, did find positives to take from the loss. Coach Starla Jensen said, especially in the first game, she saw plenty she liked from her squad.

“Our first game, we were out there, ready, passing and trusting each other,” she said. “We had some good blocks and some good hits.”

Still, she said Steamboat was simply too much, especially as fired up as the Sailors were with their much delayed home opener.

“Steamboat, they’re tough,” Jensen said. “They communicate all the time. They trust each other, really trust their teammates.”