IHS’ second SJBL pass starts with sweep
The Volleycats quickly dug themselves a hole Saturday, Sept. 27.
And after climbing out of that first-set pit, ultimately used the dirt to bury Telluride and complete a sweep of the teams’ 2025 home-and-home by winning 25-21, 25-15, 25-15.
“We just had to talk and really make sure to, like, prioritize getting the ball in their court – because the refs … were a little rough,” said junior setter Kelly Sirios. “But I think the match today was very good.”
“There were a lot of questionable calls, so my girls just put it to them. Got motivated to just dig in harder and really explode,” head coach Jennifer Seibel said. “It was definitely higher emotions this time.”
Gifting the Lady Miners, perhaps somewhat spent from their five-set win the previous night over non-league Crested Butte, four points on errors right out of the gate, IHS eventually trailed 7-2 before sophomore Alleah Neil scored with a block and ended THS senior Lillyann Mahoney’s stay on serve.
Helped by two kills by junior Reggi Gustafson, the ’Cats quickly rallied to tie at 9-9, then roar ahead to 14-9 despite Telluride head coach Lorrie Mahoney using her first timeout. But THS never again gained the lead before back-to-back service aces by junior libero Tarah Baker put Ignacio at set point, 24-19. A net violation then returned the serve to the Lady Miners and Gustafson then sent an attack long, but IHS secured the set when Telluride netted a pass to sophomore middle Teagan O’Dell – who wouldn’t have been able to do much with it, as IHS senior Juliann Avila was prepared to roof whatever came her way.
Telluride (7-4 overall; 2-3 2A/1A San Juan Basin League, 1-3 2A SJBL) would, in fact, have the upper hand – on the MinerDome scoreboard, at least – just once more in the match, at 2-1 early in Set 2 before Ignacio junior Maliyah Martinez put the guests up 3-2 with an over-pass kill. IHS’ lead grew to 9-3 via a Neil kill, a Baker ace and an airmailed O’Dell attack, and THS got no closer than 11-8 via a kill by senior Lori Gleria, nearly floored by junior Ellarose Aplin’s unexpected celebratory shove.
But senior Delia Noel then hit long, triggering an 8-1 Ignacio run. Noel managed to land her hardest-hit kill and close the gap to 18-12, but the ’Cats reached set point at 24-14 when O’Dell – more and more a front-row regular with injured senior Tori Sanders still watching from the bench – couldn’t convert an attack. IHS then claimed the set two points later when the Lady Miners were whistled for a fourth contact while trying to rescue a Gleria set, meant for Aplin, from out of the net.
THS junior libero Ford Fenton, rather than Mahoney, began Set 3 on serve, but Neil promptly scored with a tip shot and Gustafson followed with a kill assisted by Baker. Before the Lady Miners knew what hit them, they were down 7-1 and later 10-3 after a Martinez spike pressed Lorrie Mahoney into calling a timeout.
Gustafson, however, went for the gusto with consecutive serves that Telluride couldn’t handle. THS sophomore Hazel Noel prevented Gustafson from doing more damage by scoring with a tip shot, but the Volleycats continued pulling away and led 18-7 after Sirios blocked Aplin, and Aplin’s subsequent net violation.
Following skipper Mahoney’s second and last allotted timeout, THS closed to 18-11 but no nearer to winning than 22-15 after Aplin smacked a kill then backed it up with an ace down the line. Seibel used a timeout, her first since protecting a 17-16 advantage in Set 1, and Hazel Noel then hit long. Martinez brought up match point, 24-15, with a shot off reserve Caroline Merritt’s block, and senior Alyssa Atencio then ended the afternoon with a stiff serve received, but passed into the net.
“We do a lot of drills to concentrate on high-pressure scenarios, for us to keep momentum on our side,” Seibel said. “Serving is a hundred percent mental – we all can serve over the net – and tonight they just really showed how strong they were.”
“Serving and serve-receive, those are our two go-tos; if you can’t do those two skills, then you’re shot in the foot.”
“She just told us to play our game like we know how,” Gustafson said. “We practice like that, and I guess it’s really paying off. And from what we heard, they wanted to win real bad … but I think we wanted it more than anything.”
Having successfully followed up on their 16-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-20 home victory on the 23rd over previously unbeaten 2A Dolores, the ’Cats (9-2 overall; 5-0 SJBL, 4-0 2A SJBL) will next play Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Greeley West Invitational and begin against 5A Fort Collins Poudre. After returning from distant Weld County, IHS will resume SJBL work on the 9th against 2A Mancos.
“Anyone’s beatable – including us,” Seibel said, “so we’ll have to fight, tooth and nail, every match.”
“We’re trying to take it day by day, not looking too much ahead,” Sirios said, “and just focusing on ourselves rather than our opponents; and it’s (been) working out.”