Prep volleyball: Durango advances past spirited Desert Shields

Travis Massey

Thursday, Nov. 2, 2000 | 9:50 a.m.

In 17 matches this year, the Durango girls volleyball team was rarely tested, losing just once all season. But Wednesday night the Trailblazers met up with a challenge against Cheyenne's stingy defense.

The Desert Shields gave the Trailblazers a scare, taking a game and pushing another to the limit. Durango, however, was able to hang on in four sets, 15-10, 13-15, 15-7 and 15-6, to advance to the semifinals of the 4A Sunset Region Tournament tonight at Clark High School.

"We had to play a different style," Durango coach Bob Kelly. "Cheyenne dug a lot of good balls, and we had to be a lot more patient."

After falling short in the first game, Cheyenne extinguished the Blazers in the second set. The Desert Shields showed defensive prowess, taking control with superior blocking and all-out hustle throughout.

"Our strong point tonight was our defense," Cheyenne coach Karen Brown said. "I wish we could have played harder in that fourth game."

The effort put forth by Durango left nothing to be desired. Tera Anderson had 18 kills, Carleen Waldron had 11 kills and Natalie Smart added eight more to set a presence throughout the entire match.

Amy Schlauder, the Trailblazers' 6-foot, 14-year-old freshman setter, completed 43 assists to help boost her team.

Durango takes on Palo Verde at 6 p.m. today, with the winner advancing to next week's state tournament. For now, however, the Blazers aren't talking about state.

Instead, they're talking about taking modest baby steps toward their goal.

"We play just one game at a time, play every game like it's the last one," Schlauder said.

Added Kelly: "It's the next round, so we're expecting it to be tougher than tonight."

The Panthers (14-5) advanced with a 15-11, 15-13, 15-6 win over Bonanza (9-10). Today's other Sunset semifinal will pit Centennial (17-3) against Cimarron-Memorial (11-8) at 4 p.m.

In Sunrise Region semifinal action, Las Vegas (14-4) takes on Silverado (19-2) at 4 p.m. at Chaparral High School, with Valley (10-8) matching up with Green Valley (20-1) at 6 p.m., also at Chaparral.