Looking to see the sort of spark would ignite her Tigers in crunchtime on Thursday in Ignacio, but which would also burn into Saturday’s nonleague triangular versus not only Mosca-based San Luis Valley rival 1A Sangre de Cristo but perennial 1A power La Veta, Del Norte head coach Tamara Creel was elated to see a junior lead like a senior.
Gaining back the serve for herself and her teammates, trailing 18-13 in Game 4 – and trailing 2 games to 1 in the match, despite having just grabbed Game 3 – with a strong kill shot down the line, Reese Brown then held serve for nine points which could have most definitively driven all the momentum the visitors’ way.
“Being down two-nothing, they had to fight,” said Creel, alluding to DNHS’ three-point win in Game 3, followed by a two-point Game 4 win in which IHS led by six on three distinct occasions. “They are capable of coming back, and just putting their hearts in it when they need to. They did a really good job of not rolling over.”
And because the Tigers refused to, so did Jennifer Seibel’s Volleycats. Exactly what the first-year skipper wanted to see prior to vaunted Mancos’ Tuesday visit – a clash which could have long-term impact not only on the San Juan Basin League’s 2A side, but the combined 2A/1A circuit.
“We had to mentally get out of our slump,” Seibel said. “So as a whole … I think it was great because the girls have to know … if something’s not working, to be dynamic and change to find methods that work. Find solutions and limit errors.”
“Mancos is huge – they’ve got several players six-foot or so – and we’ve got a lot of covering to do, but we’re so scrappy that I have no doubt … if we’re movin’ and groovin’ we can get their hits up. We just have to continue to be in our game.”
“Mancos and Dove Creek … they’re like our rivals and we’ve got to get them,” said IHS senior Kacey Brown. “Doesn’t mean we will – we have the skill and they have skill too – but we definitely can … if we work hard, keep doing what we’re doing.”
Awakened by DNHS’ resurgence, the ’Cats immediately reverted to their Game 1 form in the tiebreaking Game 5. With freshman Kelly Sirios on serve, IHS raced out to a confident 5-0 lead via an attack sent long by Tiger senior Kayleigh Haynie, senior Solymar Cosio’s two-handed push shot into the deep corner, a windmill-like Cosio tip shot, a kill off the top of the net by senior Darlyn Mendoza-Lechuga, and a Cosio rejection of Haynie.
Creel quickly took a timeout, but Sirios countered by zipping an ace cleanly between two Tigers. Del Norte senior Peytin Neal interrupted the run with a scoring block against Ignacio junior Ollyvia Howe, but IHS regained momentum via another sweeping Cosio tip into space, then a Howe ace of Brown. When the Volleycats’ lead reached 10-3, they knew the time had come to close – and nail shut – the door.
Freshman libero Lily Quintana managed to put down a shot from out of the back row, making the score 11-4. Mendoza-Lechuga followed with an ace almost identical in location to Sirios’ gem. Kacey Brown then forced a shot through DNHS junior Baylie Laymon’s block, and Ignacio reached match point, 14-4, via a Del Norte passing error.
IHS returned the gift, and Laymon then downed a kill, but the ’Cats clinched a 25-13, 25-18, 22-25, 23-25, 15-6 victory when Tiger sophomore Autumn Gallegos served out of bounds in front of the home team’s bench. Having logged a season-opening 25-14, 25-18, 25-11 sweep of 3A Montezuma-Cortez on the same floor one night before, Ignacio improved to 2-0 overall in the young 2023 campaign; DNHS dipped to 0-2 (0-0 2A Southern Peaks).
“My girls have got their eyes open wide,” Seibel said, “and they keep me energized. They’re hungry to learn, and it just keeps me motivated to keep pushing more – in a good way – onto them so that they will excel, work hard and overcome a lot.”
Mancos will enter IHS Gymnasium standing 2-0 overall – after a 25-15, 25-21, 25-15 win Friday over 2022 NMAA Class 2A State Championships qualifier Tierra Amarilla Escalante – and 1-0 in the SJBL after a five-game win over DCHS, at the time ranked No. 5 in the preseason CHSAANow.com Class 1A poll, on Tuesday.
Hosting nonleague Delta on Friday, Bayfield was unable to avenge a season-opening home loss to Durango and fell 16-25, 22-25, 13-25. The Panthers improved to 3-0 (0-0 3A Western Slope). The Wolverines slipped to 0-2 (0-0 3A Intermountain).
Junior Aadrey Fraser hit a reported 13 kills for DHS and junior Sophia Chavez nine, while sophomore Lillian Nelson totaled 22 assists in the guests’ sweep. Chavez and sophomore Makayla Wear each booked eight digs, while senior Brayden Ahlberg came up with seven and Fraser six. Figures for BHS were unavailable. The Wolverines were also set to host Palisade (0-0, 0-0 4A Western Slope) on Saturday.
