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Steamboat upsets Palisade, looks forward to showdown with Huskies

Avery Harrington, left, and teammate Anna Allsberry block a Rifle shot in Saturday’s game in Rifle. The Sailors won the match taking all three games against the Bears. (Photo by Brian Harrington)

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — The Steamboat Springs High School girls volleyball team will be looking for another big upset when it takes the court at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 25 for a showdown with league rivals Battle Mountain.

“If we can get those kinds of performance continuing, we can do some pretty great things this year,” Sailors coach Wendy Hall said. “It’s just a level of play that we haven’t seen out of those kids. I knew they had it in them, but it was certainly nice to see them go out and prove to themselves how good they can be, and I’m hoping that it will boost their confidence a little bit.”

The Sailors will get another chance to prove what they can do when the Battle Mountain Huskies come to town Tuesday for a match that will play a key role in determining the leaders in the Western Slope League.



Steamboat volleyball

Aug. 23: vs. Moffat County, W 25-11, 25-10, 25-16
Aug. 31 at Alamosa, L 21-25, 25-21, 15-17.
Aug. 31 at Peak to Peak, W 25-15, 25-8
Sept. 1 at Coal Ridge, L 25-18, 18-25, 11-15
Sept. 1 at Littleton, W 25-16, 25-20
Sept. 8: at Classical Academy, L 25-19, 18-25, 12-15
Sept. 8: Coronado, L 27-29, 22-25
Sept. 8: Mullen High School, L 22-25, 20-25
Sept. 8: Mountain View, W 20-25, 25-15, 25-12
Sept. 13: vs. Eagle Valley, L 18-25, 27-25, 25-14, 20-25, 13-15
Sept. 15: vs. Glenwood Springs, 6:30 p.m.
Sept. 21: at Palisade, W 19-25, 25-17, 25-23, 25-8
Sept. 22: at Rifle, W 25-13, 25-12, 25-20
Sept. 25: vs. Battle Mountain, W 25-16, 23-25, 25-22, 25-23.
Sept. 27: at Summit W 27-29, 25-13, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13
Oct. 4: at Eagle Valley L 18-25, 25-18, 12-25, 24-26
Oct. 6: at Glenwood Springs W 25-23, 25-22, 25-22
Oct. 12: vs. Palisade L 21-25, 27-29, 25-20, 25-23, 14-16
Oct. 13: vs. Rifle, W 25-17, 25-20, 25-8
Oct. 16: at Battle Mountain, 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 18: vs. Summit, 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 20: vs. Grand Junction, 6:30 p.m.

The Sailors enter the game coming off of a two-game road trip where the Sailors defeated Palisade 3-1 in a huge match and then picked up a 3-0 win over Rifle on Saturday.

“We had a really good weekend,” Hall said. “To beat Palisade in Palisade is always a very big challenge for us. It was some of the very best volleyball I’ve seen all year from both teams. We had several really long volleys with both teams hitting hard, blocking and digging, and it was just really high quality volleyball the first three sets.”



It was a big win as the Sailors upset the Bulldogs in a match that would have given Palisade sole position of first place in the Western Slope.

The Bulldogs won the first set 25-19, but Steamboat took the next three, 25-17, 25-23 and 25-8. Steamboat put together an impressive showing going 91 out of 92 from the service line and only making 16 hitting errors in 155 attempts. The team finished with 50 kills and 61 total digs.

Senior Anna Allsberry had 24 kills, Avery Harrington had 10 and Maddie Heydon had eight in the match. Kari Saunders led the team in serving going 22 for 22 and Harrington has four solo blocks and seven assisted blocks.

“We just didn’t make any mistakes in that set, but Palisade kind of unraveled in that set,” Hall said. “We just sort of kept the gas pedal on and stayed the course.”

The upset dropped the Bulldogs into a tie with Battle Mountain for the Western Slope lead at 4-1.

The Sailors, currently in third place in the Western Slope, have a 7-6 overall record.

Steamboat went to 3-1 in league play Saturday after taking a 25-13, 25-12 and 25-20 victory over last-placed Rifle. Allsberry led the Sailors with 14 kills, Harrington had nine and Heydon added six in the match. Harrington also has four of the Steamboat’s eight blocks in the match.

Hall said this week marks the halfway point of the season, and there is a lot of volleyball left to play.

“I think it is too early in the season to start looking to see how things are going to fall,” Hall said. “We certainly have control of our destiny, and we just need to approach every match like we did last Friday. We are going to go play our hearts out and see what happens, and I think if we continue to do that we are going to come out on top several more times this year.”

The Sailors celebrate a point in Friday night’s match against Palisade in Palisade. The Sailors dropped the first game, but won the next three to take the match, 3-1. (Photo by Brian Harrington)

To reach John F. Russell, call 970-871-4209, email jrussell@SteamboatPilot.com or follow him on Twitter @Framp1966.


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