Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The last time the Steamboat Springs High School volleyball team was at home, it suffered a soul-deflating five-game loss to Glenwood Springs.

It appeared the season was in the balance.

But after this week, where Steamboat beat Moffat County on Thursday and went 1-1 Saturday against Battle Mountain and Eagle Valley, the season appears, at the moment, to be back on track. Steamboat beat Battle Mountain, 3-1, on Saturday morning before losing to Eagle Valley, 3-2.

In the early game against Battle Mountain, Steamboat controlled throughout. The Sailors beat the Huskies, 25-19, 19-25, 25-16, 25-14.

Against Eagle Valley — a team most think should win the Western Slope League and have a legitimate shot at a state title — Steamboat lost, 22-25, 25-8, 25-13, 12-15, 15-6.

“Thursday was the key to us playing well” Saturday, Steamboat coach Wendy Hall said. “We learned how to fight on Thursday and come up big in big moments.”

Steamboat featured a much more balanced attack Saturday, getting contributions from a plethora of attackers.

The team also showed that it’s learning to win. Couple Thursday’s five-game match against Moffat County, where Steamboat lost the fourth game and any perceived momentum, and Saturday’s win against Battle Mountain, and it appears Steamboat has gotten past the monumental momentum shifts that plagued the early going.

Steamboat (6-6 overall, 2-4 in the Western Slope League) never looked out of control against Battle Mountain.

Even after losing the second game, Steamboat remained calm and easily won the next two.

“I feel like we fought for it and focused on our own game and what we needed to do to win it,” Steamboat senior Marisa Beggs said. “We stayed positive on the floor. We kept going if we missed a point.”

Maggie Stanford led the Sailors with 10 kills against Battle Mountain. Beggs added eight kills, and Kailee Duryea was 31 for 31 passing with 17 perfect passes.

Against Eagle Valley, Steam­­boat played admirably but couldn’t overcome the Devils’ talent. The Sailors played possibly their best game of the season in the first game, continuing to get contributions from all across the court.

The Devils cruised in games two and three, showing why they’re the pre-eminent team on the Western Slope.

“We’re getting there,” Eagle Valley coach Shawn Wea­­­­therred said. “Sets two and three we played well. Offensively that’s about as well as we can play. Defensively, we still have things we have to work on.”

In the fifth and deciding game, the Devils jumped out to a 7-0 lead thanks to the strength of Lauren Shreeve’s serving.

Steamboat battled back, but its early hole was too much.

Stanford again led against Eagle Valley with 10 kills. Jenna Peters had 23 assists and was 21 of 21 serving. Meghan Rabbitt was 24 of 25 passing.

“We’re heading in the right direction,” Hall said. “We feel so much better than we did last week.”

Steamboat next plays at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at home against Palisade.