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Steamboat Springs — Fast starts to each of Saturday's four games were a huge help as the Soroco volleyball team improved to 2-2 on the season.

The Rams avenged one of their two losses, upending Paonia, 27-25, 20-25, 25-15, 25-19, just a week after losing to the same squad in three games.

"We had a great day," Soroco coach Kim Reeves said. "We just played very consistent. We kept things under control and were consistent throughout the whole match. It was great."

The Rams got up early in each of their games, even the one they lost. That was a huge help because it gave the young team a cushion and kept the pressure from building whenever Paonia would mount a run.

The squad relied on a strong performance by Ceanna Rossi, a few blockers, Shelby Miles and a batch of consistent passes.

Rossi tallied 28 kills to lead the team. She also had 14 blocks, and along with Miles and Corey Snyder, she acted as the backbone of a stiff Rams defense.

Miles' passing also made a big difference.

"Last week, we kept overpassing and sending balls they'd slam back at us," Reeves said. "This week, we didn't do that. It was a huge turnaround."

Still, Reeves was quick to point out that Saturday's victory wasn't about a strong showing from one or two players.

"Overall, our whole team played outstanding," she said. "They all stayed together and worked as a team. They finally came out and played like the team I have been pushing for them to be since we went to our camp this summer.

"I'm hoping this can be a big turnaround point for us, to know what it feels like to beat someone and to beat them good. Hopefully, this can carry over into our next week."

Hayden volleyball notches 1st win of the season

A day after suffering through a pair of painful losses, Hayden's volleyball team rediscovered why it plays volleyball in the first place.

The Tigers knocked off Plateau Valley for their first win of the season, 25-18, 25-10 and 25-14.

All it took was learning to have fun again.

"We started out pretty slow in the first game, but I called timeout and just talked about having fun out there," Hayden coach Greg Johnson said. "You could see it. They put smiles back on their faces and started to enjoy themselves. And they started to play a lot better."

Hayden held a slim 18-17 lead in that game, but the team went on to score seven of the final eight points to secure the win.

Afterward, the Tigers never looked back, cruising to easy game victories in each of the final two games.

The win couldn't have come at a better time. Hayden, 1-3, now is 1-0 in the Western Slope League.

"It's a huge win for us as a confidence booster," Johnson said. "We really needed to get into the win column. There was a lot of pressure on them, and now we can just go out and go to work."

Samantha Huffar had 14 assists and three aces to help lead the team. Rachael Koehler notched six kills, six blocks and three aces, and Ashlee Doolin had five kills