Home

Steamboat Springs — Wendy Hall was at a loss. The coach of the Steamboat Springs High School volleyball team said her squad played its best match of the season nearly two weeks ago, routing Moffat County in three games.

Things haven't been the same for the Sailors since.

The slide continued Saturday when Steamboat fell in three games to Palisade, 25-21, 25-18, 25-14.

"Things got worse as the match went on, which hasn't been our pattern," Hall said. "Early in the season, we were good at coming from behind or hanging in there."

That loss came after an ugly win against Delta, but capped a 1-3 stretch for the Sailors after a 7-1 start to the season.

Hall said Palisade had a good defense, but no player an in-synch Steamboat squad should have been scared of.

"They didn't have a hitter we shouldn't have been able to stop," she said. "Ball control caused us problems all weekend. Our ability to pass, or lack thereof, is really hurting us. When our passes are off, our setters are running all over the floor trying to save a set, then consequently our hitters are out of rhythm.

"It was not one or two people playing poorly. Everyone has to get better, and that starts with ball control. We'll be back to the basics in practice this week."

Sailors tennis rebounds with victory Saturday

The Steamboat Springs High School tennis team lost for the second consecutive time, falling Saturday morning to Cheyenne Mountain, 7-0.

A pair of big wins in an afternoon showdown against Colorado Academy has the team looking up, however.

No. 2 singles Keegan Burger and No. 3 singles Jeff Lambert each won tight matches, Burger in three sets and Lambert in two as Steamboat rallied to beat Colorado Academy, 4-3.

"After our two losses, that was a big win for our team," Steamboat coach John Aragon said. "Keegan won that third set in what was a great, balanced match, then Jeff came through and won his second set to close it out for us."

Steamboat's No. 1 doubles squad of Charlie Smith and Jack Burger and the No. 3 doubles team of Ben Paley and Zach Valicenti also won against Colorado Academy.

The Sailors didn't have nearly as much success Saturday morning against Cheyenne Mountain.

Jamey Swiggart took John Adams to three sets, but lost a tiebreaker, falling 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(7-1).

The No. 4 doubles squad of Vladan Chase and Alex Gibbs nearly force a third set, but lost 6-1, 7-5.

Steamboat also lost Friday night, falling against Kent Denver while on the Front Range road trip.

"Overall, it was a great weekend," Aragon said. "We played two of the best teams in the state. We ended up getting beat, but we learned a lot of what we need to work on during the next couple weeks."

Cross-country team pulling together

The state cross-country meet is looming almost exactly a month away, and Steamboat coach Matt Reinhold said his team is rounding into form for that all-important meet.

A portion of Steamboat Springs High School's team ran Saturday at a meet at Summit High School in Frisco.

"It was a pretty good day," Reinhold said. "Right now, with four weeks to state, it's looking really, really good."

Sailors senior Brittany Long led the way for a four-runner girls contingent, finishing the 5-kilometer course with her best time of the season. Natalie Geer was the team's second runner.

Official times for their races were unavailable at press time.

"We worked together well as a team," Reinhold said. "On the girls side, Cassady (Daley) and Katherine (Lynch) worked together, then Brittany and Natalie worked really hard up front together."

Charlie Stoddard led a five-runner boys team, clipping 80 seconds off his previous best. Peter Daley filed in after him.

John Cutter missed the meet with an injury.

"Right now things are really coming along well," Reinhold said. "The workouts each week are getting faster, and it's getting to tapering time. It's a good time to be starting to come out of the valley."

Rams volleyball takes a step back Friday

Soroco volleyball coach Kim Reeves credited a new mantra toward errors Friday night after her team won its first match of season.

She said whether they come in practice or a game, the girls will run for their mistakes. She had plenty of opportunity Saturday to prove she wasn't bluffing. The Rams lost at Rangely in three games, falling 25-18, 25-15, 25-15. And immediately afterward, Reeves lined her team up for sprints in the Panthers gymnasium.

"It was back to the same old, same old," Reeves said. "I couldn't understand where the team from (Friday) night went. I expected us to come out and play with confidence, but we played without. We didn't have the intensity."

Soroco was at least fired up for the first game and pulled it to an 18-point tie. Rangely scored the next seven points, however. The Panthers turned to their defense to thwart any Soroco attacks while building up big kill numbers of their own.

"They had a really good libero, and she picked up everything we sent over," Reeves said. "She got most of our kills, so we had to send taps over. They got the ball down on our side of the court, and we couldn't get the ball down on theirs."

The road won't get easier for the Rams any time soon. They return to action Friday, traveling to West Grand. The Mustangs already handled Soroco once, winning in three games earlier this month in Oak Creek.

- To reach Joel Reichenberger, call 871-4253 or e-mail jreichenberger@steamboatpilot.com