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Ignacio senior Sierra Red stands with her family (father Adam admitted afterwards he was trying not to cry) during Senior/Parent Night introductions Tuesday, Oct. 25, inside IHS Gymnasium. The match versus Dolores was the Volleycat seniors' last home league match, and IHS prevailed 3 games to 0.
Ignacio senior Harmony Reynolds receives a hug from head coach Shasta Pontine during Senior/Parent Night introductions Tuesday, Oct. 25, inside IHS Gymnasium. The match versus Dolores was the Volleycat seniors' last home league match, and IHS prevailed 3 games to 0.
Ignacio junior Darlyn Mendoza-Lechuga (3) hammers a kill shot inside IHS Gymnasium Thursday, Oct. 27, as non-league 2A Sargent's Addie Roepke (23) watches. Mendoza-Lechuga helped IHS' JV squad, coached by Cindy Valdez, defeat SHS' by scores of 25-9, 25-14 – upping the team's final record to 17-1 overall after a similar 25-6, 25-14 triumph on the 25th over 2A SJBL rival Dolores.
Ignacio sophomore Ada-Rene Cruz (2) beams Thursday evening, Oct. 27, inside IHS Gymnasium during the junior varsity's 25-9, 25-14 defeat of non-league 2A Sargent – coming two days after a similar 25-6, 25-14 triumph over 2A SJBL rival Dolores. Coached by Cindy Valdez, Ignacio's JV finished the 2022 season standing 17-1 overall. (Their only loss came against 5A Farmington, N.M., in a match where IHS ended up playing with fewer than the regulation six players on the floor.)
Ignacio junior Solymar Cosio (20) pounds a kill off the block of Dolores' Sharma Chaffee (3) during SJBL play Tuesday, Oct. 25, inside IHS Gymnasium.
Photo Credit: Joel Priest | Special to the Drum
Photo Credit: Joel Priest | Special to the Drum
Photo Credit: Joel Priest | Special to the Drum
Photo Credit: Joel Priest | Special to the Drum
Photo Credit: Joel Priest | Special to the Drum
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Volleycats returning to the postseason

Friday - November 4, 2022 by Joel Priest | Special to the Drum

No tricks, just one big treat. 

That was the Halloween-morning reality for Ignacio Volleyball when the Colorado High School Activities Association revealed the full 2022 Class 2A State Tournament bracket Monday, Oct. 31. Still somewhat anxious over the possibility that postseason play might prove to be just a pipe dream, the ’Cats could truly exhale at last after discovering they’d received the No. 31 seed in the 36-team, 12-site regional phase. 

Having closed out their regular-season schedule sweeping both 2A/1A San Juan Basin League rival Dolores (25-22, 25-19, 25-14 on the 25th) and 2A Southern Peaks Leaguers Sargent (25-16, 25-12, 25-20 on the 27th) inside IHS Gymnasium, Shasta Pontine’s varsity – which finished a runner-up 6-2 in 2A SJBL play, 8-3 against the full league – will next hit the road to compete in the 2A-Region VI Championships on Friday, Nov. 4. 

Their destination, however, is distant: Vail Christian H.S. in Edwards. 

“I think we play better (away from) home anyways,” senior Harmony Reynolds said. “So, I think it’ll be great.” 

Representing the Western Slope League and on a four-match winning streak, the six-seed Lady Saints (18-3 overall) will get the three-team event underway facing Ignacio (13-10) at 11 a.m. IHS will then go up against No. 19 Lake County at 1 p.m., with the Leadville-based Lady Panthers (19-4) coming in off a 1-1 showing at the Frontier League tourney. Of their four losses to date, two – including one at the FL gathering – have come against Fort Lupton. 

VC and LC will then collide in the final – barring any sort of tiebreaking play – match, with only the first-place side surviving to see the Denver Coliseum and the State Championships. 

ALSO SUMMONED 

2A SJBL champion with a 7-1 record, Mancos (17-6 overall) received the No. 22 seed and will travel to Region III. Joining the Lady Jays and hosting 3-seed Meeker (21-2), tops in the WSL, will be No. 34 Fort Collins Heritage Christian (13-10). Action on Friday, Nov. 4, is presently set to begin at 2 p.m. 

Meanwhile, undefeated SJBLers Dove Creek (23-0 overall, 9-0 SJBL, 4-0 1A SJBL) will host one of the Class 1A State Tournament’s eight three-team regionals. Seeded eighth in the 24-team bracket, DCHS will welcome 9-seed La Veta (22-1) and No. 17 Westminster Flatirons Academy (16-7) to ‘The DawgHouse’ for Region VIII action. 

Action Saturday, Nov. 5, is set to begin at 9 a.m. 

FINAL 2A SJBL STANDINGS 

1.Mancos 7-1, 2.IGNACIO 6-2, 3.Telluride 4-4, 4.Dolores 3-5, 5.Ridgway 0-8. 

 FINAL CHSAANOW.COM CLASS 2A POLL (released 10/31) 

1.Wiggins, 2.Meeker, 3.Sedgwick County (Julesburg), 4.Fowler, 5.Strasburg, 6.Holyoke, 7.Edwards Vail Christian, 8.Colorado Springs St. Mary’s, 9.Sanford, 10.Denver Christian. Others Receiving Votes – Greeley Dayspring Christian, Mancos, IGNACIO, Buena Vista, Hotchkiss North Fork, Burlington, Olathe, Hayden, Leadville Lake County, Yuma, Del Norte, Ault Highland, Rye, Vail Mountain. 

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