MCHS, Mancos, Dolores volleyball teams compete in district tournaments

MCHS, Mancos, Dolores volleyball teams compete in district tournaments

Oct. 28, 2000

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor


	COLETTE HALL (11) serves the ball during a recent varsity volleyball match at Montezuma-Cortez High School. The Panthers will compete today in the District Tournament at Glenwood Springs. If they win, Regionals will be held all day Nov. 4 in Ron Wright Memorial Gym. The Panthers, who finished third a year ago at State, want to make another trip to Denver Nov. 10-11.

Three area prep varsity volleyball teams are competing today, Oct. 28, in post-season playoff action. Montezuma-Cortez is visiting Glenwood Springs for the Class 4A District VII-VIII Tournament while Dolores and Mancos are in Nucla for the Class 2A District III Tournament.

Pool play opened up late Friday afternoon but the main part of the tourney is today. The Panthers, who ranked no. 2 with a sparkling 15-1 record, are the top seeded team in Pool B. Cortez is fresh off winning the regular season Southwest League title with an undefeated record. Joining them are Rifle, Moffat County, and Glenwood Springs. The top seed in Pool A is Steamboat Springs. The Sailors will be joined by Palisade, Montrose, and Delta.

They needed to finish first or second in pool play to be cross-bracketed against the top two teams from Pool A. The semifinals will be then be held with the loser being eliminated and the winner automatically advancing to finals and more importantly a berth at Regionals. The finals will determine seeding but more importantly it will determine a host site. So should the Panthers win Districts they would host Regionals Nov. 4 at Ron Wright Memorial Gym. The top two teams from Regionals advance to the Class 4A State Volleyball Championships Nov. 10-11 in the Denver Coliseum.

‘It will be a very tough tournament," MCHS head coach Lindy Mortensen said. "I think we have got a good chance to host Regionals but we have got to play very well and consistently."

The Panthers are led by junior outside hitter Casey Bauer, sophomore outside hitter Stefanie Allison, senior setter Emilie Lanier, junior middle blocker Colette Hall, senior opposite Denise Newlin, and sophomore opposite Liz Dennison.

Nucla defeated Dolores County 2-15, 5-15 Wednesday night, Oct. 25, in the district pigtail game. The Mustangs are now the no. 4 seed to the District tourney.

"It was just a continuation of the same thing that has hurt us all season," first-year DCHS coach Scott Crawford reported. "It was a developmental year for us and we knew that going in.

"Every person on this team improved. I thought Stephanie Baughman really progressed. I thought Charlene Atkins and Melinda Fury improved their play at the net. Shadra Johnson had a very good year for being only a freshman. But I’m sorry that we couldn’t have had a better year for our three seniors: Krystal Neely, April Rocha, and Bristol Fury. We just need to work more on tips and floor coverage, especially along the back row. But I think we have built a good foundation," he noted.

The Bulldogs only won one match but that was a 100 percent improvement from the year before.

Telluride, which won the regular-season San Juan Basin League crown, is the top seed. Dolores, which won league last year and advanced all the way to State, is the no. 2 seed and Mancos no. 3. Norwood drops into Class A for further post-season play.

"Dolores is the key match for us and we played them right away (10:15 a.m.)," first-year Mancos High School head coach Mona Shepherd said. "This will be the key match. We have played Dolores close and long matches during the season. I expect this one to be a good one."

The Bears are led by Rachel Ragland, Joni Everett, Jennifer Cross, Amber Simmons, Tracy Everett, and Sarah Neilson. The Blue Jays are paced by Katie Rosso, Rachel Russell, Katie Paxton, Lacey Morris, Jori Yeomans, and Natasha Walton.

The teams will play each other throughout the morning hours. Action begins at 9 a.m. The bottom two teams will play for third and fourth while the top two teams, which automatically advance to Regionals set Nov. 4 at Palisade High School, will play for first and second place (first and second seed into Regionals). However, it doesn’t really matter what the Miners do on the day, they are protected into the finals. The real battle is for the remaining spot in the finals.

"Hindsight is always better than foresight, but I thought we could have done even better (than placing third). The girls are really playing well right now and I think we are peaking just right for Districts," Shepherd added.

The top teams from Regionals will advance to the Class AA State Volleyball Tournament Nov. 10-11 in the Denver Coliseum.