DC begins anew with yet another head coach

DC begins anew with yet another head coach

Aug 25, 2001

DOLORES COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL’s varsity volleyball team should be much more sound this season with a new coach. There are several veteran players back which should also make the team much better. The Bulldog players are looking forward to this season.

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

For the third straight season Dolores County High School will have a new head volleyball coach. That makes for some unsettling times. However, Sarah (Sutter) Glover, plans on staying awhile and developing a strong program.

Glover takes over Scott Crawford, who was hired on an emergency situation, after he had a disastrous season of winning only one match. Crawford replaced Melissa Wilson, who coached team for a couple seasons.

"Having a different coach for the past several seasons and now me coming in giving them all this stuff in a short period of team is a weakness. But that will change. I am putting so much stuff into their heads right now and I think they are on overload. But the girls are following what I’m having them do and they are running the drills well," Glover said.

The Bulldogs have a nice nucleus of girls who at least have some volleyball experience. They include seniors Tia Wood, Stefanie Baughman, Melinda Fury, and Charlene Atkins.

But that experience drops off with girls coming in after having played only one season in sophomores Shandra Johnson, Joie Nidiffer, Erin Ivie, and Erin Fury. Expected to make a big contribution is freshman Prentel Coker. Johnson, though, was a starter and Nidiffer also saw extensive playing time.

Outside hitters include Erin Fury, Johnson. Ivie and Atkins are middle blockers. Wood, who was a setter last year, will move to the right outside because of a shoulder injury. Melinda Fury is a setter but who will also see time as opposite. Coker also will work doing some secondary setting.

Offensively, Glover is having the girls run what she learned while playing volleyball at Western State College in Gunnison which is the 5-1. The defense the Bulldogs will run is called the "shadow." They should have some scrappy players.

A definite worry has got to be the team’s overall lack of height. Erin Ivie is the tallest girl at 5-foot-8. Baughman also is 5-8.

"I wish they were a little taller. Middle hitters anymore do not need to be that tall because they have setters (primary and secondary) on the right side," she said.

One definite strength that Glover likes is that her team is not filled with small cliques.

"Everybody is playing together. I don’t know if that has to do because this is a small town or what the deal is. But they really like working together. They are talking a lot," she added.

The Bulldogs open the 2001 season by hosting Monticello, Utah, beginning at 5 p.m. (jv, v). They compete in the Ouray Tournament all day on Sept. 1.

The Class 2A San Juan Basin League play begins on Sept. 11 with Dolores County traveling to Dolores. They host Telluride on Sept. 15 and then take a break from league play to visit AAA Bayfield Sept. 18. The Homecoming Volleyball Game is set for Sept. 22 against Norwood. They stay at home to play Mancos Sept. 25, Nucla Sept. 28 and Dolores Oct. 2. But the final four matches of the regular season are away, at Telluride Oct. 6, at Norwood Oct. 13, at Mancos Oct. 16, and at Nucla Oct. 20.

District III Pigtail game is set for Oct. 24. The District Tournament slated for Telluride Oct. 27 and Regionals Nov. 3 at Palisade High School. State is set for Denver Nov. 9-10.