The varsity volleyball game didn’t take all that long Tuesday night, Sept. 19, between host Class 4A no. 2 ranked Montezuma-Cortez High School and visiting rival Durango in Ron Wright Memorial Gym.

A very good Panther team quickly defeated the Demons in straight games 15-7, 15-11 in a match that really wasn’t a close as the scores indicated.

"It is a kind of a fun rivalry," MCHS head coach Lindy Mortensen said following the final game. "The girls played with a lot of enthusiasm. They were excited because it was a big game but they wanted to have fun out there. But they were serious and focused."

It did take a few minutes for the Panthers to get going in the first set. The team exchanged nine sideouts before Cortez finally got on the scoreboard, thanks to a double block by setter Emilie Lanier and middle blocker Andrea Derrick. Durango tied the game at 1-1 but then the Panthers, behind the serving of Merina Lippis, scored six straight points. Cortez took advantage of three muffed hits, plus a kill and a block by outside hitter Stefanie Allison.

The teams traded points. Colette Hall served an ace and a few minutes later Denise Newlin served another ace for a 9-2 lead. Outside hitter Casey Bauer smashed the ball for a 10-2 lead. The teams traded points but when Cortez made its with a kill by Newlin, Durango coach Michelle Brown had seen enough and called time. The squads traded sideouts and then Hall spiked the ball to make it 13-3. Durango’s Amy Slauter recorded a pair of aces. Alana Smith-Lowe made a kill and Cortez knocked the ball out of bounds.

With the score 13-7, Mortensen called time. Her troops responded as Allison made a kill and then Demons killed themselves with a carry for the final point.

In the second game, Durango took advantage of several Cortez mistakes, including a couple of net balls, carry, and several bad passes. The Demons went up 0-4 when Mortensen called time. Durango moved ahead 0-6 when the Panthers suddenly turned it up a notch. With Allison serving, Cortez capitalized on several bad passes and out-of-bounds hits. The Panthers tied the game at 6-6.

The game was tied 7-7 before Cortez’ confidence in their play powered them ahead for good at 8-7. A kill by Allison and a block by Hall, and a missed ball put Cortez up 11-7. A bad pass and two long hits pulled the Demons to within one at 11-10. With Newlin serving, the Panthers scored the final four straight points. Derrick made a nice cross-court kill and Bauer smashed the ball down the sidelines. Durango took care of the rest by making a long hit and a short one under the net.

Mortensen said she was pleased with the defensive play and solid serving of Lippis, only a sophomore. And she also was pleased about the hitting of Bauer. But Mortensen was also quick to say that it was, "a total team effort. Everyone who got into the match contributed."

The Panthers played a couple matches at the end of last week. They had no problems clobbering two smaller schools in San Juan High (Blanding, Utah) 15-4, 15-1 on Sept. 15 and the following morning whipping Ignacio 15-1, 15-3.

"They were real easy wins for us. But I thought Ignacio had a scrappy team. We hit well both games. San Juan has a real young team with no seniors. Going into this match I was hoping those matches would have a been a little closer. But then you don’t have to say much to get them ready for Durango," Mortensen added.

The Panthers travel to Montrose this Friday, Sept. 22, for a 7 p.m. SWL match. They travel to play Fruita-Monument at about noon Saturday, Sept. 23. The continue with another road trip to battle Central of Grand Junction Sept. 29 and Grand Junction High Sept. 30. They don’t return home until they play Fruita and Montrose again on Oct. 6-7.

Although the winless Bulldogs are struggling right now, new DCHS head coach Scott Crawford sees improvement and knows his team is learning skills.

"Right now we are just frustrated," he said. "We are making too many service errors and those are killing us. We have been working on serving since the beginning of practices but it is completely a mental thing. The biggest thing about volleyball at this level is keeping the ball in play and right now we are not doing that."

Against Dolores, Crawford said that although the Bears lost a lot of players to graduation last May, "the Bears are good.

"We didn’t serve well at all. When we got a sideout, we would hit the ball into the net or out," he explained.

Tia Wood had another good game at setter. She made four assists during the first game and three during the second. Krystal Neely made three kills and two digs the first game and three kills and three digs during the second. Shandra Johnson dug the ball up several times and made some nice passes.

"We looked very strong against Dolores County," Dolores head coach Joye McHenry said. "We even had our strongest hitter missing, and we still looked good."

Against Norwood, it was "the same situation. Again we had problems serving. Our service errors are much too frequent."

The Bulldogs visited Monticello, Utah, Wednesday night, Sept. 20. The schedule makers were certainly unkind to the Bulldogs because they have to play a home match. However, that will suddenly change as seven out of their next eight games are in the friendly confines of Bulldog Gym. They host Class AA San Juan League foes Mancos at 6 p.m. Friday, and then host favorite Nucla about 11 a.m. Saturday.

The Wolverines certainly got revenge against the Bears Tuesday night. After beating them in three sets (14-16, 15-12, 19-17) during the finals of the Mancos Invitational a few weeks ago, the Bears lost at home 15-6, 15-11 in nonconference action. And the Bears beat Bayfield during pool play.

"The third time wasn’t the charm," McHenry commented. "I think the girls overlooked Bayfield and instead were looking toward Nucla and Telluride."

The Bears return to San Juan League play by visiting Nucla at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, and then visit Telluride at noon Saturday, Sept. 23.

Nothing is more disconcerting to a young team than the distractions while playing on the road. Mancos High School’s varsity volleyball team fell 13-15, 7-15 to Telluride.

"We had some problems with the officials and with some other distractions around the edge," Mancos head coach Mona Shepherd said. "This is not an excuse because we have got to learn about playing on the road. The officials missed calls that should have been made and made some calls that should not have been. Even I was distracted. And when you don’t have a senior team that happens. They just aren’t mature enough as a team to maintain their focus on the game itself."

Telluride does not have a bad team, according to Shepherd. The Miners have some pretty good front line players.

"Our back line did a very good job. They made a lot of digs getting the ball up. But we made some bad sets and some bad passes. And then we had trouble finishing. But I was pleased with the play of Katie Paxton, Katie Rosso, and Jori Yeomans," she said.