Halfway into their 20-match regular season, the Dove Creek Bulldogs’ volleyball team has been absolutely dominant, winning 10 of 10 matches and 28 of 34 sets.
Playing at home against the Telluride High School Miners on Sept. 19, the Bulldogs relinquished next to nothing, winning in straight sets, 25-3, 25-16, 25-12.
Leading the way for the Bulldogs were senior Shelbie Knuckles with 10 kills, senior Corissa Guynes with 11 aces and senior Kristin Knuckles with 10 digs.
Discussing his team’s performance against the Miners, Bulldogs’ head coach Scott Knuckles said, “We had a rotation in the first set where (Corissa) Guynes served. We kept just trying to hit the gaps, and we found a couple places that worked. Telluride came alive a bit that second set. We still dug in our heels and finished up the last two sets.”
Looking to continue their winning ways at home against the Norwood Mustangs on Sept. 20, the Bulldogs continued to roll.
After coming out on fire to win the first set 25-13, the Bulldogs hit a bit of a roadblock in the second set, allowing Norwood to come from behind to record a 25-23 victory.
“The first set, we came out strong and got a lot of kills,” said coach Knuckles. “The second set, we were way ahead, but got stuck in a rotation and couldn’t get a side-out. (Norwood) ended up tying us at 20 and winning the set.”
Norwood’s second-set victory would be its last as the Bulldogs won a close third set, 25-21, before closing out the match in the fourth set, 25-16.
“We kind of fell flat with our hitting,” said coach Knuckles, describing his team’s mid-match struggles. “They started triple blocking the middle so we had to make some adjustments. We were able to do that, the last two sets, we had a lot more kills.”
With their season record now at 10-0, the Bulldogs will next travel to face Monument Valley (Utah) on Sept. 26 before participating in the Ridgeway-Tri against Ridgeway and Ouray on Sept. 28.
“We just need to keep improving,” said coach Knuckles. “There were a few times in sets this weekend where we seemed to go brain dead. We need to just play our game and make the adjustments in a little more timely manner during sets.”
imaclaren@cortezjournal.com