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Sailor volleyball sweeps Moffat County in season opener

Andy Bockelman Craig Press
Steamboat’s Emily Shneider leans back to set up her teammates for a good shot.
Andy Bockelman, Craig Press

CRAIG — The longstanding streak of wins for Steamboat Springs High School volleyball over their Moffat County rivals didn’t let up Thursday, though the end of the evening showed the Bulldogs can still make the Sailors nervous. Steamboat swept Moffat County in three straight sets with victories of 25-14, 25-19 and 25-21.

The hosting squad’s growing scores after each round were no accident, as Bulldogs slowly but surely adapted to the Sailor strategy.

After leading comfortably for both of their first sets, the Sailors suddenly hit choppy water early in the third set.



Moffat County girls tied the score at 7 and overtook Steamboat for the first time from there. It wasn’t a huge breakaway, granted, as the numbers evened up eight more times with each side frantically attempting to stay ahead of the other.

At 21-all, the Sailors were back in control, and though an angry Moffat crowd protested a referee call that put the night at match point, Bulldogs coach Jessica Profumo was having none of it.



“I’m always the type of coach who says it doesn’t matter how the refs call it. If that’s it, we should be up by 10 so it doesn’t matter how the refs make a call that seems obvious,” she said.

From there, the Bulldogs got aced when they misjudged a serve to the corner, which was enough to give Steamboat the win.

Steamboat volleyball coach Wendy Hall and players break from a huddle.
Andy Bockelman, Craig Press

Work at the service line was a highlight for Steamboat coach Wendy Hall, though she said she felt she didn’t get the team where they needed to be for their opener.

With Moffat taking their second loss in a week, the Sailors move to 1-0 with more than a week to prepare for a Glenwood Springs tournament.

“To be honest, I told the girls I don’t feel like I did a very good job setting up systems in practice,” Hall said, adding practice and the beginning of the school year rushed the process. “The first two sets were clean, and then we lost focus in the third. It’s nice to see a comeback like that.”

Steamboat Springs 3, Moffat County 0
SS 25 25 25
MC 14 17 21


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