Truth be told, if Thursday would be when Teya Yeomans would reach 1,000 career kills (going in, she needed three), she probably wouldn’t have wanted the milestone shot to come against anyone else in the house but Solymar Cosio.
Senior versus senior. Power versus power. Mancos versus Ignacio.
As luck would have it, Yeomans got a one-on-one with IHS’ big right when she and the Jays really needed it most – trailing the visiting Volleycats 1-0 in the teams’ third best-of-five in 2023, but needing just one more point to take Game 2 and equalize. And as destiny, perhaps, would have it, Yeomans uncoiled MHS’ fiercest right arm since the program’s Aimee Johnson days, and forced the history-making kill off Cosio’s block and out of bounds.
More truth be told, it was fortunate Yeomans’ attempt was successful. Had Cosio been able to reverse the blast down onto the Jays’ side of the net, the momentum-driven ’Cats may have parlayed such a big play into a serve-fueled rally which very well could have put Mancos in serious trouble.
But on their home court, the Jays weren’t at all entertaining that notion.
“Ignacio’s a hard team; they can block!” said senior Haylie Higgins. “But you just can’t let them block you.”
Ignacio senior Maci Barnes began Game 3 scoring with a tip, only to see Yeomans answer with another vicious kill. Barnes then tried a harder attack, but netted. Cosio retied the score at 2-2 by blocking MHS sophomore Claire Goodwin, but after IHS netted a serve, Mancos scored 10 of the next 11 points – helped by a six-point Yeomans stay on serve, capped with an ace putting the home team up 13-3.
The lead grew to 18-5 via a kill by freshman Aubree Wyatt, and Ignacio head coach Jennifer Seibel used a timeout to give her players a chance to breathe and refocus. Unluckily, MHS sophomore Aysia Mathews resumed play acing IHS freshman Lainee Bradley, and freshman Bailey Beh followed with a kill for a 20-5 advantage. Yeomans would bring Mancos to game point, 24-11, by ripping another kill off a block, but the ’Cats stayed alive with senior Darlyn Mendoza-Lechuga zipping a ball through Goodwin’s hands. A Mathews tip shot then failed, but the Jays would win 25-13 via Higgins smacking a kill off Ignacio junior Ollyvia Howe’s block.
“I think it was just that one point led to another and another, and we had the momentum on our side,” Yeomans said. “Then we just continued to carry that over, kept the energy high the whole time – even if we lost a point.”
“We weren’t yelling at each other; we were working together, all doing our jobs,” said Higgins. “I was hitting, Teya was hitting, our passers were passing, Aysia and Claire were setting – when we work together as a team, we destroy other teams. It’s just that sometimes we struggle … like in the first game.”
Able to gain a 5-4 lead in Game 1 via a Cosio kill, Ignacio led the rest of the way. Their 25-21 win was highlighted by freshman Kelly Sirios’ back-to-back-to-back service aces (the last flummoxing Yeomans), increasing IHS’ lead to 17-10, and ultimately punctuated by a Cosio roll shot over a double block and a Cosio tip drawing Mancos into a net violation.
IHS opened Game 4 confidently, with Cosio putting away a MHS overpass. Goodwin answered, but IHS senior Kacey Brown regained the lead with a kill. Ignacio’s lead grew to 4-2 before Mancos (13-1 overall; 7-0 2A/1A San Juan Basin, 5-0 2A SJBL) went on a 6-0 run including a Yeomans ace and a Mathews stuff-down of a poor serve reception. The Volleycats (11-5; 4-2, 4-2) were able to constantly remain within two or three points, but they never got closer than 18-16 the rest of the way.
“Props to Ignacio; they played great,” Yeomans said. “They were getting everything up, didn’t let anything hit ground.”
Cosio scored with a tip to give IHS one last bit of hope at 23-18, but Yeomans countered with a tip over a double-block to bring up match point, then tooled a kill of Cosio’s block to complete a 21-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-18 victory in the Jays’ designated National Breast Cancer Awareness Month match.
“We tried to correct our passing, because our passing wasn’t amazing in Telluride,” Higgins said, alluding to MHS’ slim five-game road win on Sept. 30. “But we pulled through and passed like we were supposed to.”
“Honestly, there was a lot going on tonight and … just a lot of nerves; we were all over the place,” Yeomans said. “I don’t think the first set was what Mancos Volleyball is; it was just chaotic. Once we got settled, then we got into how we really play.”
Following the teams’ post-match handshake, Mancos A.D. Travis Greenlee took the public-address microphone and delivered a brief speech saluting Yeomans’ achievement. He then presented her a commemorative golden ball.
“Whenever a game’s on the line I tell my teammates ‘Trust me!’” she said, of her well-timed 1,000th kill. “So I think that just showed the trust on our team; they were like ‘We’re going to give it to you!’ We did our jobs and put it in their court.”
“I’m, like, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel; everything’s just paying off,” the senior continued. “And the community …. To have everybody I love supporting me, and recognizing the hours that no one really sees, that’s pretty special.”
