Since suffering a five-game loss to Dove Creek on Sept. 11, the Dolores High School volleyball team has reeled off eight consecutive matches without dropping a game.
The latest of those wins came at home over Ouray on Oct. 13, when the Lady Bears thoroughly dominated throughout a 25-14, 25-6, 25-13 victory.
Junior Jordan Elder hammered down several impressive kills throughout the match, and senior Tatum Majors controlled the pace of points by disrupting Ouray hitters with numerous blocks.
Also playing a key role in the match was senior setter Abby Jones, whose ability to distribute the ball between her team’s talented hitters kept Ouray on the defensive throughout the morning match.
“In the beginning, I feed whoever wants it,” Jones said. “Once we get going, I try to feed whoever is on and hope that they can get (the ball) down.”
While Elder and Majors were the biggest contributors to the Dolores offense, Sydney Smith also played a significant role as the sophomore hammered down several kill. Among the most impressive of those kills was a howitzer that put the Lady Bears ahead 14-6 in the third game.
Strong serving by several Dolores players, including Cameron Schafer and Elder, also played a significant role in the third game, which was seemingly never in doubt.
“I liked the way that we kept our intensity up,” said Smith, when asked about her team’s performance. “We didn’t play down, we kept playing at our level.”
Now sporting a 10-3 record overall and an 8-1 record in the San Juan Basin League, the Lady Bears will close out their league schedule with matches against Ignacio, Telluride, and Mancos.
In the event that Dolores wins each of its three remaining league matches and Dove Creek loses one league match, the Lady Bears would earn a share of the SJBL League regular season championship.
“We’re working on what we call the fancy stuff like shoots and quicks,” Smith said. “We’ve been working in practice since the beginning of the season and we just keep getting better.”