On paper it looked like Mancos was not going to have much of a team this year after nearly losing all their team from a year ago. But by the way the Blue Jays played against a good Montezuma-Cortez JV team Tuesday night, Sept. 5, Mancos will certainly win games this year under first-year coach Mona Shepherd.

"I saw some moments of brilliance out there," she said following the game in the Mancos Performance Center. "I thought the girls played well at times and not so well at other times."

The young Panthers beat the Blue Jays 15-13, 3-15, 16-14 to run their match record to 3-0.

In the opening game, Mancos jumped out to a 2-0 lead behind the serving of Cassie Coppinger. Cortez took advantage of several Blue Jay misakes to go ahead 4-2. Mancos kept coming back and coming back and was soon up front 6-4. Rachel Russell served for a couple of aces and soon the Jays were up 10-4. But following some long (out-of-bounds) hits, and a couple coverage and definite serving mistakes, the Panthers were back in the game at 10-9. After the teams traded points, the Jays capitalized on Panther miscues and went up 13-10. But Sasha Yarbrough served her team to the win. Courtney Lanier made a key block for a point during the ending rally.

"I think we worried a little too much about our serve-receive. Our passes were a little off and then our setting was a little off and we made mistakes," Shepherd remarked.

The Blue Jays, though, were not demoralized after losing the first game. They stormed back and dominated the Panthers in the second contest. Mancos jumped out to a 5-2 lead and soon found themselves up 9-3. Katie Rosso made a nice tap, Lacey Morris made a kill, Russell made a block, and and Katie Paxton made a tip and served for an ace during that stretch. The Jays continued to play hard and went up 14-3 thanks to a tip and a kill by Paxton and an ace by Rosso. Morris made kill for the final point.

"They played great. But the reason is that we were in total command was that we got our serves in," she said.

Again the Jays made serving mistakes in the third game just like they did in the first. Mancos went up 3-0 but Cortez soon went ahead 5-3, thanks to kills by Liz Dennison, Lanier, and Merina Lippis. With the score tied at 5-5, the Jays made many mistakes including bad passes, bad sets, carries, and four hits. Cortez was soon up 12-6. The Jays did not give up as they battled back and pulled within two at 12-10. Cortez, thanks to a big kill by Lindsey Wilson, went up 13-10. Shepherd called time. The Jays tied the game at 13-all and it was tied again at 14. But two serve-receive mistakes ended the game for the Jays.

"The serving mistakes hurt us because we lost our momentum. I told them I don’t expect aces all the time but just get the ball in play. Most of the serving errors came from not tossing the ball high enough. Our floor coverage was pretty good. It was a good game and we showed we can play," she added.

Mancos visits preseason favorite Nucla for a Class AA San Juan League game at 7 p.m. today, Sept. 7. The Jays host their annual Lady Jay Invitational all day Saturday, Sept. 9, in the Mancos Performance Center.

PAGOSA SPRINGS — Montezuma-Cortez High School continues to be impressive. The Panthers defeated a very good Pagosa Springs team 15-11, 11-15, 15-6 this past Saturday, Sept. 2.

"Pagosa has a very good program," MCHS head coach Lindy Mortensen reported. "They have a very tall team. They have a tall middle who gave us some trouble and a tall setter."

The Pirates defeated the Panthers the first match of the season a year ago. Cortez went on to finish and tied for third at the Class 4A State Volleyball Championships in Denver last November. Pagosa, though, lost in a tough Regional bracket and did not make it to the Class 3A State tourney.

"It really was not that well played," she said. "We had some troubles and we made some mistakes. Our defensive coverage is still not there."

Casey Bauer finished the match with 10 kills. Stefani Allison finished with 8 kills and Colette Hall had 8. Allison made 16 digs and Emilie Lanier 14 plus 26 assists. The Panthers served okay, according to Mortensen. Cortez scored several points off blocks, which impressed her.

The Panthers, 2-0, will play in the annual Lady Scorpion Invitational at Farmington High School all day this Friday and Saturday, Sept. 8-9. Cortez is the defending champions.

MONTICELLO — Dolores County struggled in its season opener this past Saturday at Monticello. The Bulldogs, who did not win a match last year under former coach Melissa Wilson, have a new coach this year in Scott Crawford. The Bulldogs lost 1-15, 3-15 in what Crawford said what could have been "pre-game jitters and nervousness."

"We stayed close the first game for a few serves, but then they made a big run on us," Crawford reported.

The Bulldogs went up 3-0 thanks to the serving of Shandra Johnson, but then the Buckeroos took control and "things got out of hand."

The Bulldogs travel to Farmington to play Piedra Vista at 7 p.m. today.