Senior-powered ’26 roster has skipper psyched
Denied the 2A/1A San Juan Basin League championship in 2025 via tiebreaker, Ignacio will hit the volleyball court in ’26 targeting not only first-place Dolores but, most importantly, a third trip to the CHSAA Class 2A State Championships during fourth-year head coach Jennifer Seibel’s tenure.
“In that run we made to State a few years ago, that just helped amp up our community to, like, be excited about Ignacio Volleyball again,” she said, alluding to IHS’ outstanding 2023 campaign. “We may be small, but we’re mighty; we can make some noise on that big stage, and so we’re working hard to get back up there.”
And with a time-tested nucleus capable of going, well, nuclear, the Volleycats could very well improve upon last season’s 11-1 mark in SJBL play and 21-6 overall record – finalized inside the Denver Coliseum by losses to northeastern powerhouses Sedgwick County and Wiggins.
Setter Kelly Sirios, a Second Team All-2A pick last season, returns atop a loaded senior class plenty able to fill vacancies left by graduated veterans Juliann Avila and Alyssa Atencio. So do right-side hitter Lainee Bradley, outside hitter Reggi Gustafson, OH/RS Maliyah Martinez and libero/defensive specialist Tarah Baker. Now-junior Amira Montoya will again add extra depth to IHS’ back row while imposing six-foot middle Alleah Neil, just a junior, will look to build upon her breakout, Honorable Mention All-2A 2025 campaign.
“She’s got that ‘growth’ mindset which is, again, one core value I preach,” said Seibel. “She’s hungry to learn, absorbs anything that we’re giving her; I’m really looking forward to see how far she can go. She’s a big burst of energy for our team.”
“This summer we had really good involvement from all of my returning varsity players. They were committed in the open gyms and just really committed to developing their skills and getting that time, their reps,” Seibel continued. “We had a pretty successful (team) camp at Adams State – we were in the second division, and we went undefeated in that – and I’m excited for our season. There’s still a lot of things that we need to continue to work on and develop, but I’m getting 90 percent of my players back so I’m excited to continue to build on where we left off.”
Ignacio’s schedule will start with an August 26 match at non-league Del Norte (9-14 overall, 3-3 2A Southern Peaks in 2025), followed by an 8/27 drive to Pagosa Springs (5-18, 0-8 3A Intermountain) and an 8/28 home debut against seldom-faced Antonito (3-15, 1-5 1A Southern Peaks).
Non-league action continues on Thursday, September 3, with a home match versus Olathe (5-17, 1-9 3A Western Slope), and an eagerly awaited trip to the Denver Christian Invitational on September 12.
“A ‘traditional’ one-of-a-kind tournament for us,” said Seibel, “and it looks like we drew Denver Christian first in the bracket. And of course, we’re on the same side of the bracket as Dolores (25-3, 11-1 SJBL in ’25), but we’ll see what happens! Sanford’s on the same side as well, and also in that tournament is Simla. So, it’s a really strong tournament, as always.”
“We’re really looking forward to that to really just help us see where we’re at, what we need to work on,” she continued, “and we have three three-out-of-five matches in one day – we’re going to have ‘volleyball overload’ with that one!”
The ’Cats will then see their first SJBL opposition on the 17th when Norwood comes to town. At present, Ignacio is slated to then visit non-league Sanford (20-5, 7-0 2A Southern Peaks) – eliminated at the ’25 Class 2A State Championships by Dolores – the next evening, then resume league work Saturday afternoon, September 19, at home against Dove Creek.
“I really think that our success will be directly tied to our all-in mentality,” Seibel said, “and just trying to keep the girls in a growth mindset to get better every single day. Honestly, it’s mental conditioning that we’re going to hit hard this year along with the physical, and I think we could do well as long as we put the team first.”