Huskies rally to defeat Devils in epic five-set volleyball rivalry match
Battle Mountain claimed its first win over Eagle Valley volleyball since 2019
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
Lately, Eagle Valley has had Battle Mountain’s number in girls volleyball. In fact, the last time the Huskies bested the Devils, the phrase ‘social distancing’ wasn’t a part of anyone’s lexicon. That’s right — Oct. 17, 2019 was Battle Mountain’s most recent win over their down-valley rivals.
Through most of Monday’s I-70 dual in Edwards, it looked like that trend would continue. Eagle Valley soared to a 2-0 lead and looked poised to close out the fourth with a 23-21 advantage. But Battle Mountain rose to the occasion time and time again, scoring four in a row to force a decisive fifth set. The Huskies completed the epic rally with a 15-8 fifth-set gem, claiming their first win (18-25, 21-25, 25-13, 25-23, 15-8) against the Devils in their last seven attempts.
“They stopped playing afraid to lose and started playing like they knew they were going to win,” Battle Mountain head coach Shelby Crummer said.
“I think it took an equal level of spice and grit to win this game.”
The Huskies were plucky in the first set as no team garnered more than a two-point advantage through the first 34 points contested. The home team’s student section — dressed in pink to honor the late Lauren Huffman, the beloved figure in Battle Mountain’s gym for years before losing her battle with cancer this past May — was loud and proud, particularly when Battle Mountain rallied for three in a row to make it 16-all.
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From there, it was all Eagle Valley. The visiting students — adorned in camouflage gear to mirror the varsity warm-ups — used their team’s 7-2 closing run to lobby a few traditional insults (“there’s a net there”) with some newer ones (“Where’s your football?”) as the energy remained as competitive as ever. When asked for the story behind the hunting apparel, an anonymous Eagle Valley student explained, “Because Battle Mountain calls us hicks … so we embrace it.”
The highlight of the second set came from Eagle Valley’s offensive Swiss Army knife Ione Pedersen. The senior appeared out of nowhere along the near sideline, somehow bumping a heads-up, right-handed third-hit save over the net as she flew towards her own bench. The Devils scored the point to make it 13-9 and didn’t look back en route to a 25-21 set victory and 2-0 lead.
Battle Mountain remained resilient, opening the third with a 19-5 lead that included an 11-0 run. Eagle Valley brought in a few reserves, who made a quick 6-1 run of their own before the Huskies successfully extended the evening with a 25-13 win.
Pedersen, Talia Crawford, Taylor Hooper and Ava Geiman overpowered the Huskies at the net through most of the fourth set. The Devils 4-2 early lead set the tone and Pedersen’s jump-serve laser wiped the numbers off of Husky libero Dulce Orona to make it 7-3. A moment later, Crawford rejected Gracie Halminski’s spike at the net and Geiman sent a kill into the earth’s mantle for a pair of emotional Eagle Valley points.
Battle Mountain again fought back, tying the game at 12-12, 13-13 and again at 14-14. But Hooper knocked the life out of the home team with a hard spike that literally knocked over a Husky, making it 16-14. Eagle Valley appeared poised to ride to victory with a 23-21 lead and all the momentum, but the Huskies did not give up, scoring four in a row to force the decisive fifth.
The Huskies kept the Devils on the ropes, going up 4-0 and 7-2 before Eagle Valley coach Mike Garvey called for time. Battle Mountain extended the lead to 12-5 before Geiman attempted to regain momentum with a kill. It wasn’t happening, however, and Ashley Jones’ diving save attempt fell short as the rowdy home crowd flooded the court.
With the win, Battle Mountain improved to 4-1 on the year as Eagle Valley fell to 6-3.