Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The Soroco volleyball season came to an end Tuesday night after falling to Plateau Valley in a last-ditch effort to claim the final spot in district play.

Soroco squared off against Plateau Valley in Oak Creek with the winner securing the No. 8 seed in Saturday's district tournament.

By finishing eighth in the league, Soroco was forced to play Plateau Valley, who finished ninth, since eight teams are all that are allowed into the district tournament.

The Rams defeated the Cowboys on Sept. 28, but they couldn't come up victorious Tuesday night, losing 15-11, 6-15, 16-14.

"The girls played well," Soroco coach Amy Pankonin said. "It just didn't work out. We had some of our best hits of the season. We just didn't serve well."

Pankonin said her girls picked an ideal time to display the aggressive attack at net she's been seeking. However, the Rams picked the worst time to have one of their worst serving performances of the year.

The highlight of the match came in the second game, when Soroco won by a convincing 15-6 margin.

"We played the way we should play in that second game," Pankonin said. "The other two games we were inconsistent. It was a good match. Plateau Valley wanted it really badly and they capitalized on our mistakes."

Meg Hayne and Hallie Shiner paced the offense with 11 and 7 kills, respectively. Shiner also contributed 15 digs, while Hayne had 11. Kaleyne Gneiser had 10 assists. Shiner served 18 of the Rams' points with seven aces. Jessie deGanahl had three aces and 11 total points for Soroco from the service line.

Tuesday's loss was the final game for seniors Hayne, deGanahl, Tiffany Schaffner, Michelle Biles, Jess Northrop and Amanda Phillips. Seven players that saw varsity action will return next season, including Gneiser, Shiner, Chelsey Reynolds, Kalvert Shiner, Karli Babcock, Kimberlee Williamson and Kaylie Corrigan,

Pankonin and assistant coach Val Remick had 16 other underclassmen on her C and JV squads.

Soroco finished the 2002 season 5-14 overall and 1-7 in league play.