Steamboat Pilot & Today

Routt County — The Soroco and Hayden volleyball squads expect relatively easy pigtail games to kick off the 2A district tournament Saturday at Steamboat Springs High School.
Soroco plays winless Plateau Valley and Hayden goes up against North Park (3-7). Both Routt County teams swept their pig-tail opponents in the regular season.
Though the two local rivals have identical 5-5 conference records, Soroco's third seed is one higher than Hayden's because it split wins with second-seeded Grand Valley.
Hayden lost twice to Grand Valley.
After its pigtail game, Soroco would face Grand Valley again.
"We're aiming at Grand Valley going into the tournament," Soroco coach Betsy Photos said.
If the Rams win the game, they'll be in the driver's seat to get a regional birth. If they lose, it could be hard times. A loss would put Grand Valley in good position for second or first place in the tournament.
Two teams will move on to the regional tournament. West Grand is the first seed at districts and automatically gets one of the two regional spots. If that squad wins the tournament, the runner-up will receive the other spot. If West Grand doesn't win the tournament, the top team will get the second spot for regionals.
Hayden would meet unbeaten West Grand in its second game, something that doesn't frighten the Tigers.
"It's not unrealistic for us to beat West Grand," Hayden coach Kipp Rillos said.
That will be the first game for West Grand, and Rillos believes the Mustangs could be cold compared to Hayden, which would be coming off a win.
"We're feeling pretty confident," Rillos said.
But a loss to West Grand doesn't mean doomsday for Hayden. The Tigers would still have a shot to get second place and a regional birth.
Soroco and Plateau Valley play at
9 a.m. at Steamboat Springs High School, followed by Hayden and North Park at 10:15.
If Soroco wins the first game, it plays at 12:45 p.m., 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
If Hayden wins its pigtail, it has games at 11:30 a.m., 3:15 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

To reach Doug Crowl call 871-4206 or e-mail dcrowl@amigo.net