Hayden — The Soroco High School girls volleyball team hopes it sent a big message Friday night.

It certainly made believers out of the many fans gathered in Hayden as the Rams took on their cross-county rival Tigers.

Soroco overpowered Hayden in a big way, taking the first chapter in this season’s rivalry matchups in three games, 25-7, 25-16, 25-23.

“It felt really good,” Soroco senior Briana Peterson said. “We all came in confident and ready, and obviously, it showed. I’m really proud of our team.”

For the Rams, 3-1, it was all about how much power they could bring offensively, and the two main engines behind the team’s big win were seniors Lucy Carlson and Briana Peterson.

Carlson was a force in the middle of the court, especially in the first two games. Peterson, meanwhile, provided big hits from the edge, and both often proved too much for Hayden, 0-3, to handle.

Those two had plenty of help from the start, when senior Cala McCollum helped serve the team to a 13-1 lead.

“We flow together,” Peterson said. “We have a lot of special plays we run around each other, and nothing gets clustered.”

Though they didn’t really come in that lopsided first game, Hayden did have its moments and seemed to improve as the night went along.

Junior Darian Murphy hit well, while Jessika Hockett came up with back-to-back-to-back aces serving with the team’s back against the wall in the third and final game.

Hayden led through much of that game, but it could never play well long enough to put much of a gap on the Rams. Bad sets, bad serves and defensive gaps combined to stop rallies and help Soroco get the win.

“We had some great streaks, but we didn’t show up to play tonight,” Hayden coach Dayna Hunter said. “Once we got into that groove, there were a lot of good things we did, but we definitely did not play to our potential.”

Soroco is back in action Saturday with a trip for a 5 p.m. game at Plateau Valley. Hayden travels Saturday for a 5 p.m. showdown against Vail Christian.

To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 970-871-4253, email jreichenberger@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @JReich9