After a 3-0 win in their first meeting in September, the Dolores Lady Bears completed a season sweep of the Mancos Lady Blue Jays on Thursday with another 3-0 victory.
Playing at the Mancos Performance Center, the Lady Bears were patient to open game one. They played within their means and limited mistakes to build a 10-7 advantage early, and then they simply found open zones on the floor to drop in kills en route to a 25-15 win.
“I think the girls did a lot better job communicating and trusting each other,” said Dolores head coach Gina Hollen. “They seemed to flow better on the court.”
An ace by Abby Jones and kills by Tatum Majors and Sierra Schwartz got Dolores out to a 4-0 lead in the second game. But Nicole Hess got Mancos on the board and a block and save by Mackenzie Benitez pulled the Jays within two at 8-6.
From there, the Bears began to pull away.
Long rallies led to confusion and players out of position for Mancos, and lefty Josie Majors took advantage, swatting balls into empty spaces for Dolores scores. Consecutive kills by Schwartz late in the set propelled the Bears on to a 25-18 win.
Dolores had won the first two games the week prior against Dove Creek to take a 2-0 lead, but the Lady Bulldogs responded with three straight wins to take the match 3-2.
Hollen said her team learned a huge lesson from the letdown, so with a 2-0 advantage against Mancos on Thursday, the Lady Bears shut the door in game three.
A big spike by Tatum Majors and an ace by Schwartz sparked the Bears right out the gate. They jumped ahead 10-3 and never looked back, winning game three 25-9 to complete the sweep.
Dolores is 4-9 after the win and 3-5 in the San Juan Basin League. The loss dropped Mancos to 2-12 on the year and 1-8 in SJBL play. However, Mancos head coach Brittany Lang continues to see improvement in her young team.
Even when the Lady Jays trailed two games to zero and were down big in the third game, they continued to put forth effort and play hard.
“Nicole [Hess] came out strong and was a positive leader,” Lang said. “Morgan Rose blocked well tonight, and Kasey Wallace is a force to be reckoned with. I just have to remind everyone that these are underclassmen and they’re learning the fast paced game.”
Both teams are back in action on Friday. Mancos will look to rebound in an away game against Norwood (6-7, 5-3 SJBL), while Dolores hosts Ouray (2-10, 0-6 SJBL).