County landfill slated to expand

MCHS opens volleyball season with wins

Sept 4, 2001

BY JIM THOMAS
Journal Sports Editor

It seems like a team often improves almost 100 percent from the first game to the second.

Such was the case for Montezuma-Cortez High School Friday afternoon, Aug. 30, in its home match against undefeated (2-0) Aztec (N.M.) High School in Ron Wright Memorial Gym.

The Panthers were coming off a lackluster 10-15, 16-14, 15-7 win over a good AAA team Pagosa Springs on Thursday, Aug. 29, at PSHS. They crushed the Tigers 3-15, 0-15 in a match that took about 35 minutes to play.

"I thought we controlled the ball real well," MCHS head coach Lindy Mortensen said. "We didn’t make nearly as many errors as we did the day before. The intensity was there tonight. We weren’t ready last night but we came out ready today. I think they learned they need to come to gym ready to play no matter who the team. Momentum can change so quickly in volleyball."

In the first game against the Tigers, Cortez took a 4-1 lead thanks to solid serving by Emily Harclerode and coupled with several unforced errors by Aztec. The teams exchanged several sideouts before the Panthers went on a scoring rampage. Behind the serving of Stefanie Allison (two aces), the Panthers jumped out to a 9-2 lead. Casey Bauer made a kill, Colette Hall made another, and Aztec made miscues. The Tigers scored when Tammy Martinez spiked the ball over the net. Everything started collapsing for the Tigers after that. The Panthers led 13-3 thanks to wide or long hits off bad passes or sets. Hall and Bauer polished off the Tigers with kills.

The second game saw Cortez move out to a 4-0 lead, one of those points coming off a backward tip by Bauer. Behind the serving of Harclerode, the Panthers reeled off six straight points for a 10-0 lead. Aztec hit balls into the net, double hit the ball, and flat out missed easy hits. After a side out, Bauer served for three more points. Allison had a kill, but three points came off more Aztec errors. Lindsay Wilson served for the final two points, including one of those an ace.

"We came out and took control right from the start and I liked that," she added.

Against Pagosa, the Panthers struggled in their season opener.

"We did not play well at all (against Pagosa)," Mortensen reported. "I think part of it was nerves. But you name it, we did not do well. We missed hits, passes, and serves. Our serve-receive was not good. It was a coach’s nightmare."

However, the Panthers kept chipping away. The matches went back and forth.

"Pagosa served hard and we had trouble with our serve-receive early during the match. We got down five or six points and Pagosa got fired up," she commented.

MCHS came out strong with five unanswered points in the first game. Pagosa soon was up 5-12. Pagosa dinked the ball for a couple more to put them on the verge of winning. The Panthers rallied to make it 10-14 before the Pirates put the game away.

In the second game, the Panthers opened up in the hole 0-3. Nice hits by Allison put MCHS up 4-3. Pagosa came back and led 5-7. With Sasha Yarbrough serving, the Panthers went up 9-7. Cortez added three more points to go up 12-9. After Pagosa regrouped with a time, the Pirates scored three straight. Cortez held a slight 13-12 lead. The score became tied at 14-all when Casey Bauer made two kills for the win.

That forced the deciding third game. The Panthers jumped out to a 7-1 advantage and increased that margin to 10-1. Pagosa, following a time, came back to make it 5-12. Mortensen called time at that point. Pagosa scored twice more but Allison made three kills to finish off the Pirates.

"You can’t take anything away from Pagosa. It had a good team. But we sure did not play very well. I was pleased with the fact the girls never gave up. They could have folded in the second game. They stayed with it and played pretty well in the final game," she added.

The Bears and the Blue Jays have not opened their respective 2001 seasons yet.

Dolores County opened the season with a 5-15, 7-15 loss to Monticello, Utah, on Aug. 29. New head coach Sarah Glover was out of town and unavailable to comment. Dolores visits Monticello at 5 p.m. today, Sept. 4, while Mancos visits MCHS JVs at about 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6.