Facing their third top-ten-caliber opponent in a calendar week, the Ignacio Volleycats traveled Saturday, September 17, out to 2A/1A San Juan Basin League force Dove Creek seven days removed from an exhausting excursion to Lakewood, Colo., and the super-stocked Denver Christian Invitational.
Having lost 16-25, 17-25, 19-25 to Holyoke, at the time ranked No. 9 in the CHSAANow.com Class 2A poll, then 18-25, 22-25, 20-25 to Vail Mountain, IHS still managed to leave the tournament on a high note – a 25-10, 25-12, 19-25, 17-25, 15-8 conquest of then-No. 6 Littleton Front Range Christian in the seventh-place match.
Unfortunately, undefeated Dove Creek – entrenched at No. 3 in Class 1A – refused to allow the ’Cats to re-conjure any similar magic, dealing Ignacio a 20-25, 15-25, 16-25 defeat inside ‘The DawgHouse.’
Senior Harmony Reynolds was credited with four kills for IHS (6-7 overall, 2-1 SJBL, 1-1 2A SJBL) in defeat, while senior Trinity Strohl, junior Solymar Cosio and sophomore Marissa Olguin each managed only two. Senior setter Laci Brunson totaled just 11 assists. Defensively, Reynolds came up with six digs and junior Maci Barnes five.
Senior Trista Barnett paced the Lady Bulldogs (12-0, 3-0 SJBL, 2-0 1A SJBL) with nine kills, while junior Kylie Gatlin and sophomore Ralynn Hickman each put down eight as junior Kalie Gatlin totaled 22 assists. Barnett totaled nine digs and senior Rylie Hickman eight.
“Dove Creek … they’re really coming along,” said IHS head coach Shasta Pontine. “Different players, more experienced on the court. But it’s good to see where everybody is … and where we are right now in the season.”
The ’Cats will next venture north over the mountains to Ridgway on Saturday, October 1, for a rescheduled varsity doubleheader beginning at noon. Results from Ignacio’s trip Wednesday, September 21, to 2A SJBL nemesis Dolores were unavailable at press time.
2022 DENVER CHRISTIAN INVITATIONAL (SEPT. 10) RESULTS
- Sedgwick County, 2. Holyoke, 3. Meeker, 4. Denver Christian, 5. Strasburg, 6. Vail Mountain, 7. IGNACIO, 8. Front Range Christian. (Going into the tournament, SC was ranked No. 1 in 2A, with Meeker No. 3 and Strasburg No. 7 – giving the event the honor of attracting five of Class 2A’s top ten squads. Ignacio, DCHS and VMHS were all ‘Others Receiving Votes,’ making for a loaded eight-team showcase.)
WORTH THE JOURNEY
Players and coaches alike seemed to agree that attending the Invitational will pay dividends.
“You will see teams here that play at the State level,” third year FRC head coach Amanda Deich said. “It’s been years since we’ve been to State – I’m not even sure they ever were, to be quite honest, before my time – but we have our eyes set on it this year, so we said yes to a tournament like this. We knew there’d be an upgrade (of play quality) in it.”
“This actually replaced another tournament we were supposed to be in,” said Vail Mountain’s rookie skipper Aspen Stuedemann. “It was a 5A tournament, which was not a good fit for us – we play some 5A teams, but it usually doesn’t go well – so it was exciting to come and play … teams we may see in the postseason.”
“We’d actually played Meeker just last night, lost a tough one,” she noted. “It’s been fun to … watch good teams play.”
“They were pretty solid teams,” IHS junior Kacey Brown said. “And it was a long trip, but it was really fun.”
“They played hard and worked well together; that’s what it’s about,” said Pontine. “We’re still early in the season, and after this we’re halfway done (with regular season play)! Been a lot of front-load (scheduling), but we’re learning lots of stuff.”