The Battle Mountain Huskies played their hearts out Saturday night with two upset victories that rewarded them with the Class 4A volleyball championship.
But to hear coach Brian Doyon tell it, the win over Mountain View (27-3) was strictly strategy.
The Loveland team has taken the district championship twice, but it’s the first time Battle Mountain, from the Vail area, has made it to the final. Battle Mountain knocked out top-seeded and defending state champion Sterling in the semifinals earlier in the day.
Seniors Sofia Lindroth and Crystin Rodrick were the linchpins of Doyon’s championship plan – setting up a blocking machine to keep Mountain View’s star player, senior Sarah Carson, under wraps for much of the night.
“She’s (Carson) phenomenal, but it’s one-dimensional,” Doyon said. “She and No. 5 (junior Lacey Turner) are their two big hitters, so we purposefully switched the rotation to block them.”
Mountain View also lost momentum when referees stopped play three times during the three-game match. In one case, it was to protest Battle Mountain having players out of rotation, said Mountain View coach Lindsey Stinson.
“The first two games were tied 20-20. We were just afraid to make mistakes instead of going out to make the plays,” Stinson said.
Tension mounted in the third game as Mountain View inched to within 17-24 before the Huskies tipped the ball over the net to score the game point.
“We couldn’t ask for anything more,” Lindroth said. “We’ve worked really hard.”
Battle Mountain started off strong, while Mountain View was plagued by errors in early play.
Although the score was tied several times during the match, Battle Mountain dominated, coming from behind in the second and third games.
Kendra Havlik played strong defense in Battle Mountain’s backcourt.
“It was a little emotional for them being down 2-0 and us being up 2-0,” Rodrick said. “We said we may as well go out strong.”
Rodrick is graduating early to play for Colorado State starting next semester. Lindroth, the outside hitter, plans to play at James Madison University.
Britney Brown, the Huskies’ setter, has signed with Northeastern.
No Mountain View player has signed yet with a college team, Stinson said.
All-tourney team
Crystin Rodrick, Battle Mtn., sr.
Sofia Lindroth, Battle Mountain, sr.
Sarah Carson, Mountain View, sr.
Lacey Turner, Mountain View, jr.
Schylur Edelman, Sterling, sr.
Danielle Minch, Sterling, sr.
MVP: Lindroth
