The Centauri that Bayfield had seen twice during regular-season action this fall, wasn’t the Centauri the Lady Wolverines seemed to be seeing Friday morning, Nov. 15, as the Intermountain League rivals battled to see one – at the least – more match at the 12-team 2024 CHSAA Class 3A State Volleyball Championships.
And after having received a few minutes during 11-seed BHS’ four-set loss to No. 6 Lamar the previous day, Kieley White Thunder was suddenly summoned during the third set against No. 12 CHS, with the survival struggle knotted at a set apiece.
It was a situation into which she wasn’t sure she’d be utilized.
“Not necessarily,” she admitted afterwards. “But I think … just learning from the older girls – they’re like big sisters, reminding me that it’s going to be okay – and just (use) what I’ve learned. When I have such a great team, like, they build me up to go out and do my best.”
Put upon the season’s biggest and brightest stage after head coach Terene Foutz used a timeout with Bayfield trailing 24-18, White Thunder alone couldn’t prevent Alexis Miller’s Lady Falcons from soon securing a 25-21 win and overall advantage in the eliminator. But she made them think twice about switching to cruise control; after senior teammate Christiana Sutherlin kept BHS alive with a kill off a block, White Thunder combined with senior Kambrie Byrd to deny Centauri sophomore Kynlei Curtis at the net and again stave off set point.
But after a CHS double-touch infraction and subsequent Miller timeout, Centauri at last gained a 2-to-1 lead when sophomore Rylie McCarroll stuffed down a straying pass attempted near the net by senior setter Tanna Owens. No matter; after CHS then went up 1-0 in Set 4, White Thunder downed a tying kill shot paralleling the line. Again, receiving not just a high- or low-five, but enthusiastic, NBA-ish shoves to her shoulders and back from her fellow Lady Wolverines, White Thunder indicated it was a rush like no other.
Especially for a freshman – the BHS varsity’s only one.
“Amazing. Feels like nothing before,” she said. “And I think playing like that, and feeling that feeling, is just going to make me want to play more … practice more, and practice harder, and be better.”
“Kieley was in a great group of girls who were all striving for big things this year. And she fit very well into that mindset,” Foutz said. “So, when the moment came and she had her opportunity, she was ready.”
“We’d beaten them every time we’d played them,” White Thunder continued, alluding to BHS’ slim three-set win out in Monument at the early-September Lewis-Palmer Invitational, plus later home/away best-of-five sweeps while emerging as an IML contender (ultimately finishing 5-3 in league, trailing only 8-0 Alamosa – eventually the Championships’ 4-seed), “but this was really hard.”
Boosted by White Thunder’s early kill, Bayfield managed to build a slim 6-4 lead before Centauri tied at 7-all and proceeded to forge ahead out to 14-9. BHS rallied, however, and pulled even at 14-, 15- and 16-all en route to reaching set point first at 24-21. Back-to-back errors were costly, and Foutz used a timeout with CHS back to 24-23. Fortunately for the Lady Wolverines, junior Evelette Hollibaugh rolled an Owens tip over sophomore Kenadie Wilfong to force a tiebreaking fifth set.
Consecutive unreturnable serves by junior libero Lauren Rich helped Bayfield go up 3-1 in the race to 15, but after that lead reached 6-4 the Lady Falcons took flight and swiped the next ten points – bringing up match point at 14-6.
A net violation at last removed consistent CHS junior Joselyn McCarroll from the service line, but after BHS junior Grace Barber smacked the ensuing serve over the strings, it didn’t take long for Curtis to place an off-speed roller over a double-block and into just enough empty space in the center of the Lady Wolverines’ court.
“My coach(es) and my teammates helped me get to where I am – and it was all just a blur; my adrenalin was going crazy!” White Thunder said, not dwelling on the 19-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 7-15 outcome. “Everyone was screaming – it was definitely a great experience.”
All told, White Thunder was part of a bunch which improved Bayfield’s 6-17 record in 2023 to 16-11 in ’24. And though graduation in May 2025 will rob the roster of Sutherlin – whose comeback after a year spent rehabbing a badly-injured left knee certainly helped inspire the squad – plus Owens, Byrd and Audrey Knapp, White Thunder should find herself amongst a large number of returnees (including possibly seven seniors-to-be) ready to work towards another Denver Coliseum trip.
“Upon all returning … all’s then well in the universe, right?” Foutz joked. “One of the exciting things about our team is that we’ll have several returning players, like Kieley – and a lot of kids who maybe our community didn’t see on the floor this year, but who are also great contributors. So I’d just say that Kieley’s part of a very exciting group coming back.”
“Knowing that other girls are older than me, it’s going to take some time,” said White Thunder, about her prospects of becoming a regular next fall. “But I’m sticking with it, just being patient.”