Sept. 28, 2000

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

Improvement is what a coach likes to see.

The first time Mancos played Monticello, Utah, was in the Lady Jay Invitational at the beginning of the prep varsity volleyball season. The Blue Jays were blown out in straight sets the first time they met. The Jays visited Monticello Tuesday night, Sept. 26, and took the Buckeroos to three sets before falling 13-15, 15-9, 12-15.

Serving the ball up

RACHEL RUSSELL of the Mancos High School varsity volleyball team serves the ball up against San Juan League foe Norwood last Saturday in the Mancos Performance Center. Watching the ball are teammates Katie Rosso (far left) and Jori Yeomans (10). The Blue Jays swept Norwood in straight games.

"We did a lot better," MHS head coach Mona Shepherd said. "We got a lot of players in the match."

Mancos was ahead 11-7 in the final game but made several serve-receive errors. The Buckeroos tied the game at 11-11. It took several sideouts before Monticello was finally able to win the final point. Mancos controlled the tempo in the second game and kept the first game close.

"Other than a few breakdowns, I though we played very well," she added.

Shepherd cited the play of substitute player Angela Hall, and setters Cassie Coppinger and Lacey Morris. She said she called up Kassi Paxton from the junior varsity and she played well.

It took them a little while but finally the Mancos High School varsity volleyball team is heading in the right direction.

"We had a real good weekend," Shepherd said after watching her team defeat Norwood 15-7 and 15-10 in San Juan League play Saturday, Sept. 23, in the Mancos Performance Center. The Jays also defeated Dolores County 15-1, 15-3 Friday night, Sept. 22. "We played well against Dove Creek the night before and then played well here today. The kids have a renewed, rejuvenated enthusiasm."

Shepherd made a few changes, including Lacey Morris to setter. Cassie Coppinger was doing fine in the previous games but Shepherd felt a change was needed. But now the Jays are developing two quality setters. Morris, though, gives the Jays a blocker up front.

In the first game, the teams traded several sideouts before the Blue Jays finally got on the scoreboard. Mancos added another point for a 2-0 advantage but that was followed by some more exchanging of sideouts. After Norwood scored, the Jays went on a scoring spree. With Rachel Russell serving, Mancos went up 7-1. Jori Yeomans made a nice tip and Katie Paxton a kill during the effort. Norwood came back with three straight points following several Mancos mistakes. The teams then traded points for an 8-5 lead. Russell killed the ball for a point and Norwood responded with a point of its own. The teams then traded nine sideouts before the Blue Jays scored three straight points. One of those points came off an ace by Jolene Thomas. Norwood cut the difference to 12-7 but Mancos scored three consecutive points to put the first game in the books. Natasha Walton made a nice kill for the final exclamation point.

The second game was almost as long with several exchanges of sideouts. Mancos took an early 3-0 lead but Norwood came back with a pair of points. The Jays improved their advantage by going out front 5-2. Norwood pulled close to 5-4 but then, with Russell serving, the Jays moved out to an 8-4 lead. Norwood made two passing mistakes during that time. Mancos was soon enjoying a 10-5 cushion. Norwood came back with three unanswered points at which point Shepherd called time. The schools traded several more sideouts. Mancos went up 12-8 and soon were up 14-9. Norwood’s Stacie Metcalf made two straight kills before she missed on another one that went outside the pole. Mancos closed the game with the final point of the game and match.

Norwood did not serve the ball well during the match. The Jays, who have had problems serving so far this season, had no problems Friday night or Saturday morning.

Against Dolores County, the Jays came out tentative in both games. Dove Creek got the first point on the Jays.

"We just shut them down from there," Shepherd said. "Going into the match, I was worried about our girls getting down on themselves. But the girls responded to the changes and went out there and played hard. We got a nice big run on them during the first game and it never stopped."

Thomas served well, according to Shepherd. Katie Rosso played a good game.

"The girls played well the second game as well. We had more of a killer instinct this game," she said.

Walton, the senior who had on limited playing time, played well for the Jays.

"I don’t know what happened against Mancos," first-year DCHS coach Scott Crawford said. "We did not play well against Mancos. But I have to give Mancos credit because those girls played a good defensive game."

The Jays will host San Juan League foe Nucla at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29, and they will visit Piedra Vista (Farmington) at noon Saturday, Sept. 30.

Class 4A no. 2 ranked Montezuma-Cortez High School remained undefeated in Southwestern League play Saturday, dropping the Fruita-Monument Wildcats 15-4, 15-1 at Fruita.

Junior Casey Bauer and sophomore Stephanie Allison led the Cortez offensive. And Lindsey Wilson paced the defense with four blocks.

The Panthers controlled the first game from the start. After swapping two side-outs with the Wildcats, Cortez scored its first point on an ace by Allison. She then served the Panthers to a 4-0 lead. The lead was 7-0 before Fruita scored back-to-back points. But the Wildcats would only score two more times as the Panthers cruised.

Bauer showcased her hitting strength in the second game and Cortez held Fruita to a single point. She made nine kills during the match. Stefanie Allison made four kills and had eight digs during the match.

"We had two new girls playing with us for Fruita," MCHS head coach Lindy Mortensen reported. "Liz Dennison played well for us on the back row and Lindsey Wilson played middle blocker. Wilson made three kills the second game and she had four blocks during the match. All the girls played with a lot of intensity and they all played hard."

Mortensen was pleased with the play of Colette Hall who attacked well.

Mortensen said the most important aspect of the Panthers' offense was ball control.

"You can have the best hitters in the league, but if you can't get the ball to your setter you have no offense," Mortensen said.

The Panthers defeated a good Montrose team on the road Friday night, 15-7, 15-8.

"Montrose has a good defensive team. There were a lot of nice rallies. We had some problems with our serve-receive to start the game," she added.

The Indians actually took an early lead before the Panthers finally got their game going. Again the Panthers hit the ball well, Bauer made five kills the first game and four the second. Allison made three kills in both games. Emilie Lanier had nine assists. Mortensen reported the girls served the ball well.

The Panthers will travel back to the Grand Junction area this Friday and Saturday, Sept. 29-30, meeting Central on Friday and Junction High on Saturday.

Dolores County snapped a long losing streak, dating back to late 1998 and all the way through 1999 and into the 2000 season. The Bulldogs won 15-12, 15-7 at home on Sept. 21 after playing six matches on the road.

DCHS’s Tia Wood finished with eight assists for the match. Krystal Neely and Shandra Johnson both hit the ball well.

"We played much better. This was a morale lift for us. We did everything better," Crawford said.

After losing to Mancos on Friday night, they hosted Nucla on Saturday but lost 10-15, 14-16. DCHS led in both games but could not hold the leads. The Bulldogs led most of the way through the second game. They fell behind then tied the game at 14-14. But a service error ended the run and the Mustangs scored the final two points.

"This was a real heartbreaker for us," Crawford commented. "The girls played very well. We had some nice rallies. We kept the ball in play, which we did not do against Mancos. The girls only made two service errors. We dug 34 of 41 balls during the match."

The Bulldogs were scheduled to host Bayfield today, Sept. 28, but that game has been postponed until Tuesday, Oct. 3. They visit Grand County for a rematch at about 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29.

The Bears played two tough San Juan League games on the road over the weekend, winning one and losing the other. They beat Nucla 15-3, 15-4 but lost to Telluride 5-15, 6-15.

"Against Nucla, the girls were ready to play," Dolores coach Joye McHenry commented. "I thought the girls played very well. I think we also caught Nucla coming off a loss to Norwood the day before."

Sara Nielson hit the ball well. Tracy Everett made some nice sets. Amanda Cross made some key blocks.

The Bears, who lost a majority of their starters last year off their 25-win season and State playoff team, had trouble facing the adversities on the road.

"We always have had trouble playing at Telluride," McHenry noted. "The officiating was not good, the fans were aggressive, and the gym is hard to play in. I think we just had too much traveling. But Telluride has a good team and they simply outplayed us."

The Bears host Durango JVs at about 6 p.m. today and host Norwood on Friday night.

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