BAYFIELD, Colorado — The fate of Roaring Fork's volleyball season came down to one game at Saturday's Class 3A Region D Tournament.

And that one game didn't go the Rams' way, as the most successful campaign in the program's recent history ended with a 25-20 loss to Faith Christian in a one-game playoff for the region's second of two state meet berths.

Roaring Fork, Faith and region host Bayfield all ended the round-robin tournament with 2-1 records. All three teams had a 1-1 record in matches involving one another, leaving each at the mercy of a mathematical tiebreaker.

“It was determined by the percentage of games won in the [matches] played amongst the three tied teams,” Rams coach Carrie Shultz explained by phone on Saturday.

Bayfield won that tiebreaker, leaving the second- and third-place squads to battle it out for a trip to the Nov. 13-14 state tournament at the Denver Coliseum.

“They're all pretty disappointed,” Shultz said of her players. “But we're excited about the season overall. We just fell a little short.”

Roaring Fork wrapped the season with a 22-3 record, not counting the tiebreaker showdown. The Rams defeated Bayfield in five and Hotchkiss in three on Saturday. They lost to Faith Christian in three in the day's opening match.

“It leaves a little sour taste when we beat the team that won our region,” Shultz said. “Then again, Faith beat us twice. They were the team that won and got in.”

In line to lose just one senior to graduation, Roaring Fork will return much of its 2009 team in 2010.

“It's kind of tough to think about that already,” Shultz said. “We'll miss our senior, Alli [Zeigel]. We're just kind of trying to remember the season and the success. It was a great experience to be here at regionals, playing at this high level. There was some great competition today. It'll definitely help the younger players.”

jcaspersen@postindependent.com