Panthers face key match against rival Durango

Panthers face key match against rival Durango

Oct. 12, 2000

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor


	Jennifer Cross (3) of the Dolores High School varsity volleyball team gets ready to serve the ball to Mancos Tuesday night in DHS Gym. Teammate Rachel Ragland (1) is ready to watch the ball go over the net. The Bears won in straight sets 15-10, 15-10.

DURANGO — They can clinch at least a tie for the regular season Class 4A Southwest League volleyball title by defeating rival Durango at about 7 p.m. today, Oct. 12, at DHS Gym.

The Panthers, who are the defending league champs and finished third at last year’s State Volleyball Tournament, have won the league title outright two out of the last four years.

"Durango has a big team," MCHS head coach Lindy Mortensen said. "They have some talented girls up front. We will have to come ready to play. It will be tough to beat them at their place."

Cortez defeated the Demons in straight games 15-7, 15-11 on Sept. 19. Right now both Montrose and Durango have two in the loss column.

Montezuma-Cortez has lost only one match this season, that was to a very good team from Monument Valley High School (Kayenta, Ariz.) in the finals of the Lady Scorpion Invitational in Farmington way back on Sept. 9. Since then, though, the Panthers have been unbeatable.

"I feel confident with this team. I would have to say even more than last year’s. Some things the girls did better last year, but some things do better this year. But this year’s team plays with a lot of confidence. When they do make a mistake, they come back from it," she added.

The Panthers are coming off a home weekend sweep of Fruita-Monument and Montrose in Ron Wright Memorial Gym. They stopped the Indians on Saturday, Oct. 7, by scores of 15-1, 17-15. They beat the Wildcats 15-7, 15-2 on Friday, Oct. 6.

Against the Indians, the Panthers came ready to play.

"We came out and took them right out of their game," Mortensen said. "In the first game we hit well and passed well. We couldn’t do anything wrong that game and Montrose seemed like they could do nothing right."

Stefanie Allison served for the first five consecutive points. Denise Newlin also served for five points in a row. Mortensen said everyone served well and the team only used one rotation.

But Mortensen knew the second game was going to be much different because Montrose has a good team.

"The game went back-and-forth. We would lead and then they would lead. They got up 8-12 on us at one point," she said.

Cortez came back with three straight points to pull within 11-12. The game was tied at 14-all. Then Panther Emilie Lanier served for the final three straight points to win the game and match.

For the match, Allison made 14 kills and Bauer 10. Lanier had 24 assists.

In their first game against the Wildcats, the Panthers jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead. Bauer made a couple kills and Newlin was serving. They were later up 10-2 when Fruita went on the attack. The Wildcats reeled off four straight points forcing Mortensen to call a time out. A couple mistakes by Fruita put the Panthers up 14-7. But it took nine exchanges of sideouts before Cortez picked up the final point, thanks to a bad set.

MCHS dominated the second game from the get-go. Cortez took a 7-1 lead when Fruita called time. Liz Dennison made a nice off-speed serve and Allison spiked the ball for a 9-1 advantage. Behind the serving of Lanier, the Panthers went up 12-2. Allison served for the final three points. Bauer made a kill and a block and F-M made a passing error during that span.

"I thought we played pretty well this week considering it was Homecoming Week. The girls stayed focused on what we had to do," Mortensen remarked.

The Panthers host Grand Junction High at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 and host Central of Grand Junction at noon Oct. 21 to end the regular season. The District Tournament is set Oct. 27-28 in Glenwood Springs.

Dolores 2, Mancos 0
Dolores 3, Aztec 2
Dolores 2, Dove Creek 0

A win is a win. The Bears did not play their best of games Tuesday night, Oct. 10, against San Juan Basin League foe Mancos, but they did win. Dolores defeated Mancos 15-10, 15-10 in DHS Gym.

"It was not real pretty," Dolores head coach Joye McHenry said following the match. "Our defense struggled. Our offense is usually always good, but we didn’t play well defensively. Mancos has some good servers and we did free ball a lot. We hit hard and got good sets when we needed them. We made some sophomore mistakes. We did not cover the floor as good as we have in the past."

In the first game, Mancos took an early 3-1 lead which forced McHenry to call a time out. Katie Rosso made a nice kill that went to the end line and Rachel Russell reached up for a block. But very quickly the Bears tied the score at 3-3. It was knotted at 4-4 before Dolores went out front 6-4, taking advantage of several Mancos miscues. Dolores pulled ahead 9-4 behind the serving of Sarah Nielson.

After the teams traded points, the Blue Jays pulled within two at 10-8. Tasha Walton and Katie Paxton combined for a block and Lacey Morris made a short ace serve. A cross-court kill by Joni Everett made the score 11-8 and Mancos head coach Mona Shepherd called time at that point. Mancos again made a game of it with a pair of points at 12-10. Dolores scored the final three straight points for the win. One of those points was an ace by Jennifer Cross.

The Bears went up 3-0 early in the second game and Mancos needed a time. The Blue Jays tied the score at 3-3. Mancos added a pair of points to go up 5-3. But aces by Kristen Gustafson and Cross gave the Bears a 7-5 lead. Mancos tied the game on a tip by Walton and went ahead when Dolores was called for being out of rotation. A service ace by Gustafson, a hitting mistake by Mancos, and a block by Everett put Dolores on top 10-8. Dolores scored two out of the next three points. Dolores was soon up 12-10. After the teams exchanged six sideouts, Dolores scored the final three points for the game and match.

"Some times it seemed like we had six individuals playing instead of them playing as a team," she added.

The Bears beat Aztec, N.M., on Oct. 2 by taking three out of five games. The last game was won 16-14.

"It was a long, fun day," McHenry said. "They had two girls up front over 6-feet tall, but we held our own. It was during their Homecoming week and our girls did a good job. We lost the first game and then won the second and third. We lost the fourth. And then we rallied to win the final game. We served well and it was just a very good match."

They also stopped league rival Dolores County 15-2, 15-1 last Friday, Oct. 6.

"All we really had to do was just make our serves and keep the ball in play," she said. It was during Homecoming Week for Dove Creek which contributed to the team not playing well.

Dolores travels to Norwood for another league match beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 14. They take a break from league play to host Piedra Vista (Farmington) for a nonconference match beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17. The Bears will close the regular season by hosting Telluride Oct. 19 and Nucla Oct. 21.