The Ignacio volleyball team made quick work of Mancos High School Thursday afternoon behind a strong service game.

The Bobcats used 21 combined aces from Shoshone Thompson and Alex Forsythe in a 3-0 sweep of Mancos. Ignacio won the first set 25-16 and hung on to win a close second game 25-21 before a 25-10 third set blowout sent the visitors home defeated.

“I’m really happy with the way things are going so far,” Ignacio head coach Thad Cano said. “The team dynamics are amazing and the strength so far has been our serving. We really showed that again (Thursday).”

The Bobcats (4-4) cruised in the first set, and was well on their way to doing the same in the second game until Mancos came alive.

IHS jumped out to a 7-2 lead, but Mancos fought back and held a 17-13 lead while Cano was shuffling his lineup around. The Bobcats fought back to retake control of the set before putting it away 25-21.

In the third set, Thompson set the tone early with three booming aces in the first five points. Ignacio took a commanding 15-3 lead in the final set and put the match away without much opposition from Mancos (1-8) in a 25-10 win.

“We’ve been working on some basics early this season, but it’s time to pick it up a notch,” Cano said. “We have a couple of freshmen and have been working on our transitions. Now we need to dive into some new attacks and work on our hitting. We have to start terminating when we get those opportunities.”

Avionne Gomez led Ignacio with 20 digs in the match. Forsythe added 13 digs to go along with 10 aces and eight kills. Kelly Campbell, Morgan Herrera and Makayla Howell each had three blocks and Ryley Webb added five aces.

The Bobcats will look to keep the momentum going at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at home against Dayspring Christian Academy from Greeley.

jfries@durangoherald.com