In a return to the Colorado High School Activities Association top 10, the newly Class 2A No. 8-ranked Ignacio High School volleyball team welcomed the Class 1A No. 9 Norwood Mavericks in a showdown that nearly required a heart defibrillator because of all the heart stopping action.
By day’s end, no heart defibrillator was needed, just a long rest as the Bobcats battled back admirably to take down the Mavericks in five grueling sets, winning 25-23, 22-25, 23-25, 25-11 and 15-11.
On a day Ignacio celebrated its seniors, the Bobcats were able to turn in a crowd-pleasing performance to improve to 14-4 overall and 11-1 in the 2A/1A San Juan Basin League. Despite Norwood playing at the 1A level, the Mavericks are also in the San Juan Basin League, and the loss put them at 12-5 overall and 9-2 in league.
The Bobcats battled hard and won the first set amid fan momentum. The Mavericks, however, returned to win both the second and third sets.
“We knew Norwood had really good hitting abilities in the middle,” said Ignacio head coach Thaddeus Cano. “The girls performed admirable against a really good team.”
After dropping the second and third sets, Ignacio came together in the fourth and cleaned up its mistakes. Serves were stronger and the girls were more focused, and the momentum quickly went into Ignacio’s favor.
In the fifth and final set, Ignacio was down 10-9 at one point. The Bobcats called a time out then went on a 6-1 run to finish the final set. Junior Alex Forsythe recorded seven kills, but none was more important than her seventh, which was the final kill of the game.
Senior Ellie Seibel led the Bobcats with 10 kills and five assists in the game.
“She wanted this match more than anything, she was focused,” Cano said of Seibel’s play.
Senior Chrystianne Valdez had 14 digs and fellow senior Miel Diaz had seven digs. Sophomore Shoshone Thompson added 11 digs.
Ignacio celebrated senior night Saturday because the team wanted to have its last home game against Pagosa Springs be their “pink game” to honor and raise money for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“That will be a big, special event,” Cano said.
jmentzer@durangoherald.com
