Like a freshly lit match, Ignacio burned brightest against Dove Creek in the opening game. But as the 2A/1A San Juan Basin League volleyball showdown progressed Saturday, Sept. 16, Ignacio’s fuel began to dwindle as the visiting Lady Bulldogs not only evened the contest, but went up two games to one. And after just a couple minutes’ worth of action in Game 4, DCHS simply snuffed out the Volleycats’ hopes in earning a slow-start, fast-finish 15-25, 27-25, 25-21, 25-13 victory inside IHS Gymnasium.
“We’ve had 11 road games and one home game so far. So, I think we’re just a little worn out,” Dove Creek head coach Lacey Murphy said. “We’d played in Norwood last night, then turned around to come here this morning – it’s rough. So, I really am excited to see our gym next week!”
With a still-undefeated guest coming to town three calendar days after the Lady Bulldogs’ trip to Ignacio, sustaining momentum from the previous night’s 25-14, 25-12, 25-16 sweep of the 1A Lady Mavericks would be a vital task for Dove Creek to accomplish after arriving in La Plata County.
“We’ll have Mancos at home on Tuesday (9/19),” said Murphy, “and they got us the first time, so we’ll see what happens this time! If I’m being honest, it’ll be nice to not travel. And then we have another home game on Friday.”
Results of Mancos-at-DCHS were unavailable at press time, as were those from IHS’ test Thursday night, Sept. 21, versus Dolores as the squad resumed work against the SJBL’s 2A-level side. After facing the Lady Bears, the ’Cats will then host Telluride on the 23rd at 1 p.m.
“We can definitely build on this; Dolores and Telluride will definitely be good … league games,” said Ignacio senior Kacey Brown, who logged six kills, eight digs and three total blocks. “Just have to be smart, keep the ball in and lessen mistakes.”
Those were severely limited in Game 1 against the Lady Bulldogs, as from the get-go, the Volleycats (7-4 overall; 0-1 SJBL, 0-1 2A SJBL) looked plenty prepared to build upon a quality loss to reigning 2022 Class 2A State Champion Sedgwick County in the Denver Christian Invitational finale a full week earlier.
“It was really close, up until, like, ten points or something,” Brown said, admitting IHS’ 10-point take of the first verse against Dove Creek was an uptempo blur. “And then we just got, like, a burst of energy and got a good lead.”
Bouncing back in Game 2, DCHS (10-2 overall; 3-1 SJBL, 2-0 1A SJBL) took an 8-7 lead and built it up to as great as 19-14 before Ignacio gained the upper hand, albeit a shaky one. Still, the Lady Bulldogs appeared to reach game point first at 24-22 after Brown threaded a spike between multiple DCHS hands and out of bounds long.
The officials, however, weren’t as positive the ball hadn’t been touched and called for a replay of the point, which the ’Cats earned when Brown tooled a kill off Dove Creek’s block. Freshman setter Kelly Sirios (22 assists) then somehow blocked DCHS junior Ralynn Hickman 1-on-1, only to see Hickman respond with a more-vicious swing and kill the next exchange. Ignacio regained a 25-24 lead via a kill by junior Ollyvia Howe, but DCHS swiped a match-tying win via a kill by senior setter Kalie Gatlin (29 ast), an IHS serve-reception error off Gatlin’s serve, and a failed Sirios pass meant for Howe (6 k, 12 d).
Beginning with a Brown block of Hickman, Ignacio raced out to a 6-1 lead in Game 3, but the Lady Bulldogs fought back to tie at 10-all, then went up 11-10 and never looked back. IHS head coach Jennifer Seibel called a timeout with her side down 24-20, and senior middle Solymar Cosio (7 k, 3 d, 4 blk) made the pause pay dividends with an optimistic kill. Senior Kylie Gatlin (15 kills, 13 digs), however, then put DCHS up 2-1 in the contest with a kill past Cosio’s block.
IHS’ hopes faded fast in Game 4; after going up 1-0 and 2-1, the ’Cats never again led. Dove Creek strung together six immediate go-ahead points, then later swelled their lead to 15-5 via another six-point run. Seibel called a desperate timeout with Ignacio down 23-13, but Hickman secured DCHS’ ninth out-of-town triumph with back-to-back service aces of senior Maci Barnes.
“Yeah, we had a momentum-changer,” Kalie Gatlin said, speaking of Hickman (17 k, 10 d) but DCHS’ hitters as a whole. “They were blocking us and then we finally found the holes. We just knew we had to win this to move up in the state standings.”
“We’re trying to get higher, but we’re good with where we’re at,” she added.
Knowing how tough the Lady Bulldogs would be, the ’Cats seemed okay with having taken at least a game.
“We’ve just got to keep fighting; I think that’s what helped us out at that (Denver Christian) tournament and in Kremmling (at the MHS-won West Grand Invitational),” Brown said. “We’ve just got to … be very scrappy; that’s what we’re known for.”