After her team’s 20-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-20 loss to Ignacio on Oct. 2, Mancos High School volleyball coach Brittany Lang exited her team’s locker room and did not mince words while expressing her frustration.
“We lacked talk and communication,” said the Mancos coach, when asked about her team’s effort. “We’re not really a team right now. We’re kind of divided.”
Among the factors contributing to the loss was a seeming lack of concentration by Bluejays players that manifested itself with wild passes and untimely hitting errors. As Mancos failed to communicate, Ignacio shots dropped untouched on the Bluejays’ side of the court.
Also contributing to the Bluejays’ difficulties were several blocks by Ignacio senior Amethyst Egger-Morris and some timely hitting by Ignacio freshman Alexis Pontine, who came through with a handful of kills.
While the ultimate result of the match was a disappointing one for Mancos, things began positively for the Bluejays, who raced out to a 19-10 lead in the opening game behind the serving of junior Magdalena Halls.
Although an 8-0 run by Ignacio cut Mancos’s lead to 19-18, four strong serves by Bluejays senior Morgan Rose allowed Mancos to regain momentum and lock down a 25-20 opening game victory.
“(Morgan) is our leader, she is our spokesperson, she is our commentator,” said Lang. “She will aggressively make errors, which is appreciated.”
Although Rose and Halls continued to make plays early in the second game, momentum slowly began to shift to Ignacio as the Bobcats eventually pulled away for a 25-19 second-game victory.
After Mancos took a 4-1 lead early in the third game, things further deteriorated for the Bluejays as players struggled to find energy and fell behind 20-13 before eventually losing the third game, 25-17.
In the final game of the match, Mancos received a huge boost from Kasey Wallace, who stepped to the service line and hammered several hard serves during an 8-0 Bluejays run that culminated with home fans cheering and Ignacio calling a timeout.
The Bluejays were unable to maintain their momentum however, as Ignacio won the final 11 points of the match thanks to several nice serves by senior Kiana Valdez, who finished the match with an ace down the line.
Asked how her team can improve on its 5-6 overall record and 4-2 record in the San Juan Basin League moving forward, Lang emphasized that upcoming practices will be key and that she expects her team to turn things around.
“Run, run, run,” Lang said, describing what players can expect in upcoming practices. “We will learn to talk without a ball. (Our players) will not touch a ball for two days.”
The Bluejays next match will take place at home against Ridgway on Oct. 6.