Eagle Valley girls volleyball team punches ticket to state tournament
With two straight 3-0 sweeps on Saturday, the Devils advance to the 4A state volleyball tournament for the first time since 2016
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
At various points this season, Eagle Valley girls volleyball coach Mike Garvey has had to tame his ultra-athletic hitters from perpetually pursuing the big-time kill. But Saturday’s 4A Region 7 volleyball tournament was all about the glory spikes.
“The aggression was there, everyone went after it,” said senior Iona Pedersen, who not only spiked the first left-handed uppercut to put her team on the board but delivered the knockout blow in Eagle Valley’s 25-17, 25-18, 25-8 demolition of Mead to send the Devils to the state tournament for the first time since 2016.
“If the opportunity is there to get the glory shot, you take it,” added co-captain Talia Crawford.
“We swung into it, we weren’t afraid to make mistakes. We came out here and wanted it. We went for the glory 鈥� we did.”
“What we saw was if we attacked, they couldn’t stay in it, and if we served tough, they couldn’t stay in it,” Garvey said of the coaching staff’s scouting report on the Mavericks, who came into the contest with a 14-10 record.
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“And that’s what we showed them.”
No. 7 Eagle Valley trounced No. 30 Severance 25-16, 25-13, 25-22 on Saturday morning before bullying No. 18 Mead in the afternoon to complete the round-robin sweep.
Eagle Valley’s hitters brought the heat in the first set, exploiting the helpless Maverick serve-receive. Pedersen provided the power, Crawford had the placement, Taylor Hooper showed off her hops and Ava Geiman gave the team a fiery kill whenever Mead thought about making a run.
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Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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Eagle Valley competes against Mead to determine the state-tournament representative from the 4A Region 7 tournament on Saturday in Gypsum.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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Eagle Valley competes against Mead to determine the state-tournament representative from the 4A Region 7 tournament on Saturday in Gypsum.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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Eagle Valley competes against Mead to determine the state-tournament representative from the 4A Region 7 tournament on Saturday in Gypsum.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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Eagle Valley competes against Mead to determine the state-tournament representative from the 4A Region 7 tournament on Saturday in Gypsum.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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Eagle Valley competes against Mead to determine the state-tournament representative from the 4A Region 7 tournament on Saturday in Gypsum.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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Eagle Valley competes against Mead to determine the state-tournament representative from the 4A Region 7 tournament on Saturday in Gypsum.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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Eagle Valley competes against Mead to determine the state-tournament representative from the 4A Region 7 tournament on Saturday in Gypsum.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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Eagle Valley competes against Mead to determine the state-tournament representative from the 4A Region 7 tournament on Saturday in Gypsum.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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Eagle Valley competes against Mead to determine the state-tournament representative from the 4A Region 7 tournament on Saturday in Gypsum.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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Eagle Valley competes against Mead to determine the state-tournament representative from the 4A Region 7 tournament on Saturday in Gypsum.
Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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Ryan Sederquist/Vail Daily
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“Everyone was on,” Garvey said, adding that the “overall grit and consistency” on Saturday produced what was, in his estimation, the team’s best performance of the entire 2023 campaign.
“And this group wanted it,” he continued. “We’ve seen it all week in practice 鈥� they went after this. They weren’t worried about making mistakes or being the team that maybe loses or whatever else.”
The offensive onslaught only built a 2-point lead until Eagle Valley’s 4-0 run gave the home team a 15-10 advantage. Mead didn’t know what to do with the top-spin on Hooper’s devastating jump-serves, which whistled inches over the net 鈥� the key component to another 4-0 run and 22-12 lead.
There was a bit of palpable nervous tension on the Devils’ side as they tried to close out the first set. It appeared the athletes were also trying to erase any memories of last year’s season-ending 3-0 loss to Woodland Park.
“Last couple years, hosting (regionals) and getting knocked out 鈥� I couldn’t have been more nervous today,” Garvey admitted. “But these girls made it easy for me.”
Mead, playing with nothing to lose, fought back to within seven, but served out the back to relinquish the first game. The visitors sensed their season hanging in the balance in the second. The increased urgency kept either team’s maximum advantage to just one point until a Devils’ 3-0 run made it 12-8. Then, the Mavericks fought back, and the Devils’ monster spikes started sailing long.
With the score 15-14, Pedersen went up high, and though her windup betrayed malicious intent, somehow put a soft touch on the ball, which lofted over Mead’s blockers and dropped silently in front of the opposition’s attack line. The senior immediately turned and pointed at a member of the coaching staff on the bench as if to acknowledge the helpful piece of advice, then went to the serving line and notched a momentum-changing ace. The Devils went up 19-15 before closing it out 25-18.
“I’m just glad we had fun,” Pedersen said. “That was the best part about it.”
“Before each set, we found it in ourselves to get on the same page,” Crawford said. “And it showed.”
The Devils could smell Denver Coliseum and had the Nov. 9-11 round of 12 on their mind in the third set. They jumped out to a 16-8 lead. It was destiny for the Devils, who closed the game out with nine straight magical points. The final volley was punctuated by two Pedersen spikes 鈥� the first one was blocked. The second? An emphatic, emotional slam.
“I really just wanted it to be over and hug everyone,” the senior, who is committed to playing next year at Gettysburg College, said of the moment between the two hits. “When we got it, I was like, ‘We’re going to state.’ It just felt amazing. I don’t have the words for it right now.”
Students rushed the court as players cried tears of joy. Garvey, who last went to state as the Vail Mountain School head coach almost 20 years ago, hugged a player or two and then escaped from the celebratory mob. The 27-year coaching veteran sprinted to the top of the home team’s bleachers and embraced his wife.
“She’s behind the scenes, she’s the one keeping the family together,” he said of his wife, who told him several years ago he was capable of taking over the Eagle Valley program and winning games.
“Back when I was at Vail Mountain School, there was always the thought of ‘Hey, move closer down to Gypsum and coach at Eagle Valley,’ and there’s been a lot of great coaches here and you wonder whether or not you could do it,” he said.
“And she was the one who told me that we could. She was the one who believed in me from day one.”
The journey is not done for his squad, either.
“This is the beginning for us,” Crawford said.
“They just believe. They love this game, they love each other, they love getting after it,” Garvey said of the 20-win Devils team, which will take on an opponent yet-to-be determined next Thursday in the opening round of the 4A tournament.
“We’re going to have a ball. We’re going to just go after it.”
