Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Tonight's volleyball match between Steamboat Springs and Moffat County may not be bursting with playoff excitement.
Still, both head coaches believe the match and its outcome will be key to both teams' success as they move toward the district playoffs, which will be held in Glenwood Springs from Oct. 27 to 28.
While the match will not determine playoff seeding, it could have an impact for the Sailors. Steamboat is tied with Rifle at 8-2 in the conference but trails in the tie-breaking category by a single game. Rifle beat Steamboat in two straight games (16-14, 15-12) on Sept. 5. Steamboat avenged the loss just last week (15-9, 12-15, 16-14) but had to play three games to get the win helping Rifle keep a slight advantage headed into the final week of play.
Rifle is scheduled to face teams from Palisade and Delta this week. The Sailors will be pulling for the two underdog teams and a chance at getting back into the conference lead.
"The season isn't over yet," Sailors coach Wendy Hall said. "We have to keep winning and hope that Rifle drops one of those games for a chance at the title."
Steamboat and Moffat County have both won their last three matches and neither team wants to give up the momentum as they head down the stretch.
"We are on a roll right now," Bulldogs coach Vicki Haddan said. "We've won our last three matches and are coming off of a huge win over Rifle."
Hall was also stressing the importance of the match along with the regular-season finale, which will be played at Battle Mountain on Saturday.
"I'm comfortable with where we are at right now," Hall said.
The coach plans on working on a few of those problem spots, mainly the team's blocking game, during the match with Moffat County. Hall said she expects a competitive game on the Bulldogs home court.
"I'm expecting a real battle," Hall said.
The last time the two squads met the Bulldogs jumped out to a 12-9 lead in the first game before Steamboat clawed back into the match. The Sailors eventually won the game and went on to sweep past the stunned Bulldogs in the next game 15-0 to win the match.
The varsity match will begin in the Moffat County gym at 6 p.m. The freshmen are scheduled to play at 4 p.m. and the junior varsity teams will take the court at 5 p.m.

To reach John F. Russell call 871-4209 or e-mail jrussell@amigo.net