ALAMOSA – The top-ranked Alamosa High School volleyball team faced a Class 4A school Tuesday at the AHS gym as Durango came to town.

The Demons entered the match with a 4-11 record, but they gave the Mean Moose all they could handle.

Alamosa won in three sets by scores of 25-15, 25-23 and 25-23.

“Durango fought and we gave up some points,” said Alamosa coach Annie Mortensen. “I thought we lost a little bit of focus.”

Durango scored the first point and eventually took an early 3-1 lead. But Alamosa went on a 5-1 run to go in front at 6-4.

After a brief Demons side out, the Mean Moose scored five straight points. Ashlyn Rice recorded three straight service aces in the run.

Durango had a 4-1 rally to close within 12-9. But Alamosa scored four straight and gradually built the lead to 19-11.

The Demons reduced their deficit to 19-13, but the Mean Moose scored six of the final eight points for a 25-15 win.

Alamosa opened the second set by scoring the first three points. It increased the lead to 5-1 and led 7-4 before Durango had an 8-1 run to take a 12-8 advantage.

The Mean Moose tied the score at 12-12, but the Demons went on a 7-3 run to regain the lead at 19-15. Alamosa narrowed the margin to 19-17, but Durango scored two in a row for a 21-17 lead.

But the Mean Moose finished strong by scoring eight of the final 10 points. The score was tied at 23-23 before Aubrey Rothermich slammed a kill, and a Durango hitting error gave the match to Alamosa 25-23.

The Mean Moose scored the first point of the third set and increased the lead to 6-2. The Demons had a brief side out before Alamosa scored six unanswered points. Rothermich had three aces in the run.

The Mean Moose had a 15-6 advantage, but the Demons scored four straight points to cut the lead to 15-10. Alamosa pushed the lead to 20-14 before Durango attempted one last rally by scoring five consecutive points to close within 20-19.

The Mean Moose got kills from Arreli Felix and Laci Christensen for a 22-19 lead, but the Demons also had a 2-0 run. A Durango hitting error and a kill by Kyla Hawkins put Alamosa wirthin a point of winning at 24-21.

The Demons again scored two straight points to close within 24-23, but a service error gave the set and match to the Mean Moose 25-23.

Ashlyn Rice led the Alamosa offense with 31 assists. Rothermich was the leading hitter with 15 kills, followed by Kadie Hawkins with eight, Christensen and Felix both with seven, and Kyla Hawkins with five.

The Mean Moose had 10 service aces and were led by Rothermich with four, Ashlyn Rice with three, Addison Rice with two, and Leela Gutierrez with one.

Adjusting to No. 1

Alamosa became the top-ranked team in Class 3A last week. The position hasn’t affected it much as the Mean Moose has not lost a match of a set in that time.

“I think they’ve handled it, but I think we much take care of ourselves from point one to 25,” Mortensen said.

What’s next

Alamosa (15-1, 6-0) played at Pagosa Springs on Thursday. The Mean Moose swept the Pirates by scores of 25-16, 25-17 and 25-9.

With the win, Alamosa clinches at least a tie for the Intermountain League championship.

The Mean Moose’s next match is at Centauri on Tuesday.

“We’ll have practice and hopefully finish up league play pretty strong,” Mortensen said.